


Head Over Heels

by Sasparella76



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Anal Sex, Blow Job, Christmas, Cuddling, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Kissing, Liam is Louis' best mate at work, Louis and Harry work as editors at a fancy office in London, M/M, Niall is a really lovely receptionist, coping with bereavement, financial challenges, lots of things seem to happen in lifts, there is a little bit of Ziam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 01:30:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16800994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sasparella76/pseuds/Sasparella76
Summary: Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles are both up and coming editors at Cowell Publishing. Louis thinks Harry is brilliant at his job and beyond gorgeous. It’s just a pity that Harry is also the most annoying man Louis has ever met.





	Head Over Heels

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for the Larry Holiday Fic Fest and it was inspired by a combination of the following two prompts:
> 
> _24\. One lending the other their coat/scarf/hat to keep them warm, maybe the other is just having a hard time financially, and the other can see that and just wants to help. It’s rejected at first but soon the other realises they have a good heart and just want to help._
> 
> _20\. Character A bakes too many Christmas cookies so they share it with Character B. Maybe they are neighbours, or colleagues who don’t know each other or whatever you like._
> 
> I really hope you enjoy my story, but just a word of caution before you begin. In this fic, Louis is struggling financially and is coping with bereavement. Please take care if either of these issues are triggering for you. x

Louis was bored. He had been sitting in the weekly staff meeting at Cowell Publishing for well over an hour and they were still only half way through the agenda. Louis glanced over at Harry Styles, who sat across the table from him. He thought Harry was stunningly beautiful, with his sparkling green eyes and plump rosebud lips. Louis was especially fond of Harry’s dimple. He loved how it appeared out of nowhere whenever Harry smiled. He also adored Harry’s hair. It was so thick and curly. Louis wondered what it would feel like to run his fingers through it. To twirl one of Harry’s curls around his fingers…

‘Mr Tomlinson. Earth to Mr Tomlinson,’ Simon Cowell, the company CEO called out. A startled Louis sat bolt upright in his seat upon hearing his name. 

‘Ah, there you are, Mr Tomlinson, thank you for joining us,’ Simon continued, smugly. ‘If you wouldn’t mind tearing your attention away from Mr Styles for one moment to talk to us about next month’s team projections, we would all be most grateful.’

‘Yes, yes, of course,’ Louis stuttered, feeling his cheeks flush in embarrassment at being called out so publicly. He shuffled through his papers to locate the document he needed, before clearing his throat and glancing up to address the team. That was a mistake because he immediately made eye contact with a frowning Harry Styles. Louis groaned internally. Even Harry’s frowny face was gorgeous. Why on earth did the most annoying man on the planet also happen to be the most good looking? 

Louis got his brain back into gear, took a deep breath and began his presentation.

~~~

Louis and Harry had worked as editors at Cowell Publishing for the past eighteen months. They started at the company on the same day, but fell out with each during their very first lunchbreak after Harry dropped Louis’ phone on the floor whilst typing in his contact details. Louis still cringes when he remembers how he lost his cool at the moment the glass screen shattered. Calling Harry a clumsy giraffe wasn’t his finest hour, but in Louis’ defence he had panicked because he didn’t have the money to replace the broken screen. Harry had been so apologetic and had paid to repair Louis’ phone, but that incident drove a permanent wedge between them and they were never quite able to fix the damage done to their budding friendship. They kept their distance from each other whenever possible and peppered any interactions with criticisms, frosty glares and sarcastic comments. They just seemed to rub each other up the wrong way.

Louis was sorry that he and Harry didn’t get on better, but worrying about problems with a work colleague wasn’t his top priority. For Louis, life was dominated by money, or the lack of it. He sent a sizeable chunk of his wage packet home each month to help support his younger sisters and brother, but it left him with little to live on, which was a big problem in an expensive city like London. So Louis rented a grotty studio flat in a dodgy neighbourhood and tried to make savings wherever he could. 

Life was tough, but Louis gritted his teeth, rolled up his sleeves and got on with it.

~~~

Following the staff meeting, Louis retreated to the safety of his office. He wanted to hide whilst he tried to get over the mortification of having the entire workforce know he had been drooling over Harry Styles. 

There was a knock at the door. 

‘Come in,’ he called out, looking up and cringing when Harry strode across the room and took a seat in the chair on the other side of Louis’ desk. Over the top of his work shirt, Harry was wearing a green knitted Christmas jumper with an elf on the front. He looked adorable, despite his grumpy demeanour, and Louis felt his cock give an interested twitch.

‘Why on earth are you wearing that jumper?’ he blurted out. ‘Christmas is still a few weeks away, you know.’

‘I was cold so I put something warm on. Excuse me for feeling festive.’ Harry replied snarkily, giving Louis an icy stare.

They both glared at each other for a few moments until Louis broke the silence. ‘What do you want, Styles?’ he asked, looking at Harry suspiciously. Harry never came to his room unless he had to talk about an essential work matter.

Louis’ question seemed to startle Harry, and he snapped back to reality. ‘I’m collecting for Meghan from the legal team’s baby shower,’ he explained. ‘Sign the card and make a donation.’ Harry leant forward and dropped a large envelope on Louis’ desk.

‘Sure,’ said Louis, glancing at the envelope and shooing Harry away with his hand. ‘Leave it with me and I’ll pass it on.’

‘No can do, Tomlinson,’ replied an irritated Harry. ‘That card isn’t leaving my sight.’

Louis spluttered out an unimpressed laugh. ‘And why not?’

Harry sighed heavily in frustration. ‘Tomorrow is Meghan’s last day at work before she starts her maternity leave, but there was a big mix up. Niall on reception thought the legal team were organising a collection for her, but they thought he was doing it. They only realised the mistake this morning and everyone has been panicking ever since. I said I’d buy some gifts and party decorations after work today and we can throw a baby shower for Meghan in the break room tomorrow afternoon. I am asking everyone to contribute to Meghan’s collection, but I don’t have much time to get round the whole office, so do me a favour for once in your life, Tomlinson, and sign the damned card.’

With that, Harry folded his arms and stared at Louis expectantly. 

‘I’ll wait,’ he added, after a moment. 

‘Fine,’ said Louis, snatching at the collection envelope. ‘Give it here.’ 

He scribbled a quick greeting in Meghan’s card and reached in his backpack to pull out his wallet. He picked out a small amount of lose change and held it tightly in his hand before dropping it into the collection envelope, taking care to make sure Harry could not see how much, or in Louis’ case, how little he was donating.

‘There,’ said Harry, grabbing the envelope from Louis’ desk. ‘That wasn’t so hard, was it?’

‘I wanted to get it done quickly so you can carry on with all your party planning duties,’ Louis replied frostily. ‘You clearly are the go-to man for all the important jobs around here, aren’t you?’

Harry scowled at Louis and Louis smirked back.

‘Do you have to work at being so annoying, Louis, or does it just come naturally?’ Harry asked.

‘Oh, Harry, love,’ Louis drawled, his voice dripping with sarcasm, ‘if you want to see someone really annoying, you just need to look in a mirror.’

‘Is that right?’ Harry questioned. ‘Only you didn’t seem to think I was all that annoying at the meeting this morning. If I recall, you spent most of the time fluttering your eyelashes at me.’

‘I did not,’ replied Louis, suddenly flustered.

‘That’s not what it looked like from where I was sitting,’ Harry said as he stood up and walked towards the door victorious. He rested his hand on the door handle and turned back to face Louis once more.

‘Cat got your tongue, Tomlinson?’

Louis squirmed in his seat, uncomfortably. 

‘Thought so,’ Harry declared, popping a dimple as he beamed in triumph. He opened the door to Louis’ office and held his head high as he glided gracefully out of the room.

Louis let out a low groan and cringed internally from embarrassment. That had seriously been the most humiliating moment of his life. But despite his humiliation, Louis’ treasonous brain wouldn’t stop thinking about how immeasurably gorgeous Harry had looked when he left Louis’ office. 

‘Get a grip, for crying out loud,’ Louis muttered to himself, turning back to his computer and trying desperately to focus on his work. For the sake of his sanity he just needed to forget all about Harry Styles and his god-damn dimples.

~~~ 

That evening, Louis left work and made his way back to his flat. He never took the tube or caught a bus because walking was an easy way to save money. But it was a long walk and the weather was taking a real turn for the worse as the winter nights drew in. The temperature had fallen dramatically and Louis felt so cold. 

Even after returning home, Louis found it hard to get warm. His flat was in a really bad condition: the place was riddled with damp and the hot water boiler had packed up the week before. Louis had phoned his landlord repeatedly since then, but no-one had come out to fix it. His landlord told him the boiler repair guys were working through a backlog of callout requests and would get to him in the next few days, which wasn’t ideal, to put it mildly. 

Louis lay in bed under a stack of blankets and cuddled his hot water bottle. He wore his cosy joggers and a pair of thick socks and tried to get some sleep, but his mind was racing and he just couldn’t relax. 

He would have given anything to phone up his mum and have a natter. 

Louis wanted to talk to his mum about how guilty he felt for only adding a couple of pennies to the collection for Meghan’s baby shower. Louis really liked Meghan and felt ashamed that he couldn’t afford to contribute his fair share. 

Louis also wanted to tell his mum about Harry. Harry had done a really nice thing for Meghan today and Louis was cross with himself for being so mean to him about it. Why couldn’t he have acted like a decent human being and just thanked Harry for arranging the baby shower? Harry had been mean to him too, though. Really mean. Why did they always have to be so horrible to each other? 

Louis wished things were different. 

He wished he could talk to his mum. 

His mum would have given him really good advice and would have known exactly what to say to make him feel better. 

But Louis couldn’t talk to his mum. He glanced over at the framed photograph that sat on his bedside table. It was taken on his fourth birthday. In the photo, his mum was cuddling him tightly and they were both beaming widely at the camera. Louis felt salty tears flood his eyes and dampen his cheeks as he stared at the image and, unable to hold back any longer, he cried until exhaustion took over and he fell asleep.

~~~ 

Louis spent most of his time over the next few days shut away in his office whilst he focused on completing a major project for a longstanding client. He barely saw Harry, or any of his other work colleagues for that matter. 

That all changed when he wandered into the staff break room one lunchtime to make himself a brew and help himself to a few of the team’s communal biscuits. 

A large group was gathered around the break room table listening to Nick Grimshaw, another fellow editor, regale them with tales of some wild night out he had enjoyed with Harry. Louis waited for the kettle to boil and brushed aside a twinge of jealousy as he watched Harry honk with laughter at whatever Grimshaw was saying. That man really liked the sound of his own voice, Louis thought, petulantly. Plus, he had a stupid quiff. Louis wondered how Harry put up with him.

Louis prepared his tea, picked up a handful of biscuits and turned to leave, but Liam, his best friend in the office, waved over to him.

‘Tommo, mate,’ he called out. ‘Don’t go back to your desk. Pull up a chair and come join us.’ 

Louis looked over to the table and noticed in horror that the only spare seat was positioned between Liam and Harry. Seeing no way to avoid it, Louis reluctantly made his way over.

‘Alright, Payno,’ he said, tilting himself towards Liam as he sat down so he had his back to Harry. ‘How’s things going, mate? What have you been up to then?’

After a few minutes, Harry tapped his fingers on Louis’ shoulder several times to get his attention. Louis turned around and glared.

‘Do you want to go back to your room to pick up your lunch?’ Harry asked. ‘I’ll mind your seat for you.’ 

‘Oh, no, that’s alright,’ said Louis, rubbing his hands together unconsciously as he spoke. ‘I got a bit peckish earlier so I’ve already eaten at my desk.’ 

They looked at each other for a moment and Harry frowned. Louis was sure Harry could tell he was lying and he struggled to suppress the anxiety that had begun to build in his gut.

‘I’m fine with this, honestly,’ he added, as casually as he could, as he waved a chocolate hob-nob at Harry to placate him before dunking it in his brew. 

‘Okay then,’ Harry replied. He was about to say something else, then hesitated and took another bite of his sandwich. Louis turned his back to Harry once more, inhaled deeply to steady his racing pulse, and continued talking to Liam.

When their lunch hour was over and everyone stood up to return to work, Harry placed a hand on Louis’ arm. 

‘Can I have a word with you, Louis?’ he asked.

Louis’ eyebrows furrowed together in confusion at the request, but he sat back in his chair and turned to face Harry.

‘I know I am overstepping so you have every right to tell me to get lost,’ Harry began, rubbing the back of his head in reassurance, ‘but I never see you eat anything at lunchtime and I just want to check you are okay.’

Louis took a breath and was about to protest, but Harry raised a hand up and continued. 

‘You really don’t need to diet, Louis.’

Harry’s observations knocked Louis for six. He realised in that moment that despite their antagonistic relationship, Harry had been looking out for him, had noticed something wasn’t quite right and had cared enough to speak to him about it. Louis felt pretty overcome; especially because, truth be told, he had been skipping his lunch for at least a year now. But Louis was only missing his lunch to save some money. He really wasn’t trying to lose any weight, as Harry had assumed. And Louis had just about convinced himself that of all his financial sacrifices, missing his lunch wasn’t all that bad. Cowell Publishing often hosted catered lunch meetings for their clients so there was usually some leftover food going spare early in the afternoon. Plus, the office provided complementary pastries, fruit and biscuits for staff to help themselves to, which staved off any hunger pangs. 

But Louis couldn’t bear the thought of admitting to Harry that he wasn’t eating lunch and he certainly didn’t want to talk about the reason why he needed to save money. Not to a guy who hated his guts at least. A little voice in Louis’ head questioned whether Harry really did hate his guts? He was being so nice today and Louis felt totally confused. He really didn’t know what to say, so he returned to his familiar fall-back position of pretending everything in his life was okay. 

‘Number one,’ he retorted, ‘what I eat at lunchtime is none of your business. And number two, you just saw me eat four chocolate biscuits. Why on earth would you think I am dieting?’

‘I don’t know,’ Harry replied as he shifted in his seat. ‘It’s just. Something didn’t feel right and I couldn’t put my finger on it. It was starting to worry a bit.’

‘There really is no need,’ Louis said in reassurance, desperate to end the conversation that was making him feel increasingly more awkward. ‘I promise you I am not on a diet.’ He gave Harry a tense smile which looked more like a grimace.

‘That’s good then,’ replied a subdued Harry, unsure of what else to say. His eyes darted across the room and he looked anywhere but at Louis.

They both sat quietly for a couple of seconds. 

‘Thanks for checking on me though,’ Louis added, in a softer voice, unable to conceal his self-imposed detachment any longer.

Harry seemed startled by the sudden sincerity of Louis’ response and he turned to face his work colleague once more. ‘Maybe we should check on each other more often?’

Louis nodded and Harry smiled ‘And I’m glad you aren’t trying to lose weight. You don’t need to, you know. You are naturally petite.’

Louis had long carried a deep-seated insecurity regarding his height, or lack of it, and for some reason it mattered what Harry thought of him. ‘Petite?’ he repeated hesitantly, feeling unusually vulnerable. ‘You think I’m small?’

‘What?’ Harry replied in surprise. ‘Wait. No. I didn’t say that.’

‘I can assure you I am not small, Harry,’ Louis continued defensively, sitting upright in his chair. ‘I am of perfectly average height.’

Harry let out a snort of laughter. ‘There are many words I could use to describe you, Louis Tomlinson, but average certainly isn’t one of them.’

Louis was startled by Harry’s sassy response and struggled to decipher whether his comment had been a compliment or an insult.

‘You aren’t that tall yourself, Harry Styles,’ he retorted, scrunching his eyes as he looked pointedly towards the top of Harry’s head. ‘All those ridiculous curls must be adding several inches to your height. You are living a lie, basically. If you flattened your curls you’d look much shorter.’

Harry groaned in exasperation. ‘Shut up for one minute, Louis, would you please.’

Louis took a breath to continue to speak, but Harry glared at him and Louis bit his tongue.

‘When I described you as petite, I was talking about your frame, not your height. It wasn’t a criticism. Far from it.’ Harry looked directly into Louis’ crystal blue eyes and sighed dramatically. ‘Not that calling anyone short would be a criticism. In fact, not that it is any of your business, but I find petite men to be really hot. Especially when they are feisty as well.’

Louis gasped in surprise at Harry’s admission and began to blush ferociously as a grin spread across his face despite his best attempts to retain a stony expression.

Harry saw Louis’ flustered reaction and buried his face in his hands. ‘Oh for goodness sake,’ he wailed in frustration. ‘What on earth made me tell the most insufferable bloke at work that he looks like the type of man I go for?’

Louis felt all warm and fuzzy and was unable to hold back a cackle of laughter at Harry’s response. The tension that had been simmering between them suddenly dispersed. 

‘If it makes you feel better, I have a thing for men with curly hair,’ he said tenderly, reaching out to gently shake Harry’s shoulder. ‘Your curls are not ridiculous and it was wrong of me to say they were. They suit you very much and you must never flatten them.’

Harry lifted his head from his hands and peaked a sideways look at Louis. ‘That’s good to know,’ he said, as the corners of his mouth twitched upwards. ‘I shall cancel my online order for a pair of top-of-the-range hair straighteners immediately.’

Louis giggled. ‘And I shall cancel my online order for shoe riser inserts.’ 

They smiled at each other. 

‘This is weird,’ Louis said. 

‘Yeah,’ agreed Harry. ‘Nice, but weird.’

Louis nodded. ‘I’m going to go then,’ he said, gesturing at the door. 

‘Yeah, okay,’ Harry replied as Louis stood up and began to walk away. 

‘Bye Louis,’ he called out, after a moment.

‘Bye Harry,’ Louis replied, lingering in the doorway and turning back to smile at Harry once more before returning to his office.

~~~

The next Monday, Louis walked to work as usual. He was wearing his thin denim jacket over a thick jumper. He had wrapped his arms around himself in a desperate attempt to keep warm in the freezing wind. 

Louis’ teeth were chattering and he was visibly shaking as he finally made it through the large revolving doors and into the grand foyer of his office building. He let his backpack fall off his shoulder and onto the floor, before crouching down to take out his work pass. His hands were numb with cold, however, and he struggled to pull the zip to open the bag.

‘Need a hand there, Louis,’ called out a familiar voice. 

Louis groaned as he saw Harry Styles striding towards him. He didn’t want Harry to see him shivering like this. His nose was running from the cold and he knew his hair would be sticking out all over the place after being out in the harsh wind for so long. Louis wanted to get upstairs, warm up and make himself presentable. But despite his misgivings, he still felt his heart flip-flop as Harry came near. Harry was cocooned inside a padded, thermal overcoat, which he had topped off with a rainbow-coloured chunky-knit bobble hat and matching scarf. He looked very cuddly. 

‘Just getting my pass out of my bag, Harry,’ Louis replied, turning once again to his backpack. ‘See you in the office, yeah.’ 

But Harry didn’t move away. Instead, he crouched down in front of Louis and took off his gloves. 

‘Is your zip stuck?’ he asked. ‘Here, let me have a go.’ 

Harry reached out for the zip, his fingers brushing Louis’ as he did so. Harry gasped. ‘Your hands are freezing, Louis, and they are literally purple with cold.’ 

Harry reached out and gently took one of Louis’ hands, clasping it between his own. Louis kept his hand still, overcome by the sensations of touch and warmth. He looked up to see Harry staring at him with worry in his eyes. Louis’ face was red and blotchy from the cold. His lips were grey. Harry reached out and tenderly brushed Louis’ cheek with his thumb, before clasping Louis’ hand again.

‘You are shaking, Louis, and your face feels so cold as well. You need to warm up a bit or you’ll get sick.’ 

‘I’ll be fine, Harry’, said Louis, feeling overwhelmed by the intense attention Harry was giving him. ‘Please don’t make a fuss. I just didn’t realise the weather would be so brutal today, is all.’ 

Louis reluctantly pulled his now warmer hand away from Harry’s grasp and managed to tug open the zip of his backpack, reaching inside and pulling out his office pass.

‘See you upstairs, then.’ Louis called out as casually as he could as he stood up, desperate to get upstairs to his office where he could take a breath and sort himself out. He walked briskly towards the security gates, swiping his pass over the electronic card reader to gain access before hurrying over to the bank of lifts. Louis repeatedly pressed the up button until a lift door opened. He stepped inside, but as the doors were closing Harry approached and waved his arm, causing the doors to stutter open once more. Harry came and stood right next to Louis. 

‘Raced ahead a bit there, didn’t you,’ he said. ‘Why are you in a hurry to get to the office?’

Louis rolled his eyes. ‘Just being a good employee. Love my job, keen to get started, you know?’ 

‘If you say so,’ Harry said, shaking his head in disbelief whilst Louis stared resolutely at the lift panel, watching the floor numbers rise as the lift travelled upwards. Louis was conscious all the time that Harry was staring at him and biting his lower lip. Louis glanced at Harry. He looked worried, but he also looked incredibly sexy. Why must Harry Styles always look so damned attractive? 

When the lift stopped, Louis scooted past Niall in reception, who’s head was buried in Total Guitar magazine, and quickly made his way to his room. He shut the door and breathed a sigh of relief. 

But a few minutes later Harry flung his office door open. He was still wearing his padded overcoat. 

Louis jumped in surprise. ‘Geez, Harry, ever heard of privacy? My door was closed. What do you want?’ 

Harry was carrying a steaming mug of tea, which he set down on Louis desk. 

‘It’s Yorkshire. I brewed it strong for you, with a splash of milk. Just how you like it.’ 

Louis stared at Harry.

‘It will warm you up. You need it. You are too cold.’

Louis continued to stare. 

‘You are welcome,’ Harry prompted. 

‘How do you know how I like my tea?’ Louis said finally, staring at the mug with suspicion. ‘You’ve never made me a brew before.’

Harry’s cheeks flushed. ‘I hear you banging on about what makes the perfect cup of tea all the time. It wasn’t rocket science.’ 

Louis smiled at Harry, despite himself, as he took a large sip. ‘Well, I’m glad you’ve been paying attention.’ 

Harry huffed indignantly. ‘It is not a case of paying attention. More a case of not being able to avoid hearing you whenever you are talking. You have a very loud voice, you know.’ 

‘Thank you,’ Louis said cheekily, before taking another sip of tea.

‘Err, it wasn’t a compliment, Tomlinson,’ Harry said, in exasperation. ‘How is it?’ he added a moment later as Louis kept drinking.

‘Not bad, Styles, not bad,’ Louis replied as he set the mug down and switched on his computer. 

‘Not. Bad,’ Harry repeated slowly, using air quotes to highlight the phrase. ‘I think that might be the nicest thing you have ever said to me. Are you going soft in your old age?’ 

Louis tutted, but couldn’t hold back a small smile. ‘I think you’ll find I am very nice to everyone. Now, as much as I have enjoyed our chat, I genuinely have a lot of important work to be doing.’ He wafted his hand generally in the direction of his computer. ‘Leave me to it and enjoy the rest of your day.’

‘I will indeed,’ said Harry, smiling back at Louis as he stood up to leave.

‘And thanks for the tea,’ Louis said, sincerely, as he took another gulp. ‘It is just what I needed.’

‘Glad I could help,’ said Harry, pausing for a moment before sitting back down. 

‘Louis,’ he said hesitantly. ‘Will you please take these.’ He pulled his rainbow-coloured bobble hat and gloves from his deep coat pockets and unwound the matching knitted scarf that was still wrapped round his neck, sitting the items on Louis’ desk. 

‘The weather forecasters are saying the temperature in London is going to fall even lower over the course of the day,’ Harry explained, ‘and although you drive me mad, I don’t want you freezing to death on the way home. For one thing,’ he teased, ‘if you pop your clogs I will have to cover your workload on top of my own until we can find a replacement.’ 

Harry smiled at Louis, but Louis didn’t reciprocate. This all felt too much. He had felt ashamed yesterday when Harry noticed he had been missing meals and now Harry was having to step in again because he couldn’t even keep himself warm. 

Louis felt like a complete failure and Harry’s kindness was a real kick in the guts. His self-imposed sense of inadequacy was all-consuming and at that moment he let his temper get the better of him. 

‘I don’t want your clothes. I am not a charity case,’ he said, his voice catching in his throat as he lashed out at Harry. ‘And I don’t need any handouts, thank you. Especially not from the likes of you.’

‘When have I ever called you a charity case?’ Harry barked out indignantly, stunned by Louis’ reaction. ‘You are literally freezing cold and I am trying to help. That’s all I am doing.’ 

‘Yeah, right, Harry,’ said Louis, sarcastically. ‘And I am sure this will make such a delightful story to share with the office. How Saint Harry Styles did a good deed and took pity on poor little Louis Tomlinson. Well I don’t need it.’ 

Harry snorted. ‘Pull that stick out of your ass for one minute, will you. Just listen to yourself. I had no intention of telling anyone that I had given you my hat and scarf, so why did you automatically assume that I would do that? Why can’t you accept a nice gesture, ever?’ 

‘I don’t need your nice gestures.’ Louis said bitterly. ‘I am perfectly fine as I am so leave me alone.’ With that, he grabbed the knitted items from his desk and shoved them into Harry’s hands. ‘You can go now.’

‘You are being so pathetic,’ Harry shouted as he stood up and made his way to the door. ‘I don’t know why you always push me away like this whenever I try to be your friend. You always seem to think I hate you. Well, I’ve had enough of it. It will be my pleasure to keep away from you, Louis Tomlinson.’ 

With that, Harry left Louis’ office and slammed the door behind him, only to open it again a second later. 

‘And, by the way, excuse me for caring about you, Louis. I don’t know why I bothered to try and help. Won’t do it again.’ 

Harry slammed the door shut once more so firmly that Louis felt the walls shake.

‘Good,’ Louis shouted at the closed door. ‘Best news I’ve heard all day.’ 

He took a few deep, shaky breaths and tried to fight back the tears that began to roll down his cheeks. After a few minutes, Liam opened his door gingerly and came in. 

‘You okay, Tommo? That was some fierce row you had with Harry just now. I could hear you both shouting from all the way down the corridor.’ 

Louis brushed away his tears. ‘He was just being his usual annoying self. We were arguing but things just seemed to cross a line. We’ve never fallen out so badly before.’ 

Liam shook his head and wrapped his arms around Louis. ‘I don’t get what the deal is with you two? Harry is a nice lad. You’d like him if you got to know him.’ 

‘Don’t think he’ll want to get to know me after this row,’ Louis mumbled, snuffling against Liam’s shirt and cuddling into his side. ‘Were we really loud when we were arguing?’

‘Yeah, you were a bit,’ said Liam, sympathetically, ‘but don’t worry. The bad weather has been causing all sorts of problems with people’s commutes. There are severe delays on the Jubilee Line, which has held up most of the office. Hardly anyone is in yet so most people missed the drama.’ 

‘That’s good,’ Louis said, looking up at his mate and breathing out a sigh of relief.

‘You are lucky,’ replied Liam, ‘Now, how about I go and downplay what just happened with the people who are already here. I’ll say it’s your time of the month or something.’ 

Louis gave a watery smile. ‘I am sorry for going off like that, Payno. It was really unprofessional.’ 

‘Don’t worry about it, Louis, arguments can happen. And you weren’t the only person shouting, you know, so don’t shoulder all the blame yourself. Harry is just as much at fault. But the pair of you really need to try to sort things out.’

‘Do you think that is even possible after this?’ Louis asked, even though the thought of not speaking to Harry again was unbearable.

‘Maybe too much damage has been done, but you never know unless you try to resolve things.’ Liam said, gently, sensitive to Louis’ fragility in that moment. ‘Give it a try and see what happens. For both your sakes, you need to find a way to be cordial with each other at least. It’ll make your working days much easier if you can do that.’

Louis nodded.

‘Right, I’ll leave you to it, but if you need to talk, you know where I am,’ said Liam, giving Louis another big hug.

‘Thanks, Payno,’ Louis said as Liam left his office.

‘That’s what friends are for, mate,’ Liam replied, smiling at Louis as he closed the door. 

Louis reached out to take another sip of the tea Harry had made. It was perfect. Between Harry’s tea and the central heating in his office, Louis began to warm up and feel more human. 

Liam was right. He really did need to talk to Harry. Louis knew he had been far too defensive and he wanted to begin to make things better. In his heart of hearts, however, Louis felt it would be an achievement if they could even get back to the point where they glared at each other from a distance.

~~~ 

As Louis anticipated, making things better with Harry proved to be impossible. Harry studiously avoided him all day. They saw each other at one company meeting, but Harry moved seats when Louis sat near him and steadfastly avoided eye contact throughout. Harry shot out of the door as soon as Simon drew the meeting to a close. 

After the meeting, Louis went to Harry’s office, but Harry immediately stood up to walk out. Louis reached out and touched Harry’s lower arm as he walked past him on the way to the door.

‘Can I talk with you a minute, Harry?’ He asked, his voice quivering.

‘No, you can’t, Tomlinson. I am busy,’ said Harry, not stopping and unable to look at Louis. 

‘Okay,’ Louis whispered, following Harry down the corridor. ‘Can I come and see you later, then?’ 

Harry stopped abruptly and whipped his head round to face Louis. The hurt was visible in his eyes and Louis felt devastated to see him like that. ‘No, Louis, I’d rather you didn’t. I have a lot to do today and don’t want to be disturbed.’ 

With that Harry turned the corner and strode down the hallway. Louis watched Harry walk away from him and felt his heart break.

~~~

Louis threw himself into his work in a desperate attempt to keep Harry from his mind. It was late when he finally switched off his computer and made his way to the lifts, exhaustion weighing him down.

Louis was waiting for a lift to arrive when Harry appeared.

Harry stopped still in surprise when he saw Louis. ‘I thought you would have gone by now,’ he said, coldly.

‘I had some jobs to finish up and didn’t notice the time,’ replied Louis as a bell chimed and the lift door opened. 

Louis walked into the lift and looked at Harry, who hesitated. Louis sighed and pressed his finger on the ‘door open’ button. ‘Come on, Harry. I’m not going to bite.’

Harry didn’t look too convinced, but made his way hesitantly into the lift with Louis.

‘I feel so dreadful for speaking to you the way I did this morning,’ Louis said as the lift began to descend. ‘I said some awful things and I shouted. You didn’t deserve any of it and I am desperately, desperately sorry. Please can we not argue again. I don’t want things to be uncomfortable between us anymore.’

Harry shook his head. ‘I don’t want to argue with you either, Louis, and I am sorry for the way I have behaved towards you in the past, I truly am. I know we haven’t been kind to each other at times, but the way you spoke to me today really hurt me. I was just trying to be a friend and I would never make fun of you or criticise you behind your back, despite what you obviously think.’

Louis looked down towards the floor, feeling utterly despondent, but Harry didn’t take his eyes off him. ‘We need to talk and try to sort things out, but I am not ready at the moment. I don’t know what to say to you, to be honest.’

‘Okay,’ Louis nodded. ‘I understand. But please know that from this minute on I am going to do my best to be kind and show you how sorry I am. And I will always be here when you feel ready to talk.’

The lift reached the ground floor and the doors opened. 

‘Thank you for listening, Harry,’ he added, drawing their conversation to a close. ‘Have a nice evening.’ 

Louis stepped out of the lift, walking quickly across the foyer and through the security gate. His chest felt tight as he replayed the conversation in his mind. All day, Louis had hoped against hope that once he spoke to Harry he could put things right and everything would be okay. But he had spoken to Harry now and things weren’t okay. Things were far from okay. 

Louis felt he had lost Harry from his life and he couldn’t bear it. He took a shaky breath as he fought to hold back his tears. He knew he had to hold himself together until he got home. 

He could cry when he got home.

Louis paused in front of the revolving doors to drop his office pass into his backpack. He shivered as he watched falling raindrops pound the surface of the puddles that were forming on the pavement outside. Passers-by were struggling to keep their umbrellas from flipping inside out in the high winds. 

Harry approached Louis and stood behind him, placing his hands on his shoulders. Louis had been lost in his thoughts and was startled by the sudden contact. He turned around to face Harry and looked at him questioningly.

‘Don’t argue with me,’ Harry said as he undid his scarf and looped it loosely around Louis’ neck twice, before securing it with a low knot. 

Louis stood frozen to the spot, his breath caught in his throat as Harry took off his bobble hat and pulled it gently over Louis’ head, taking his time to tuck in Louis’ wispy fringe. Harry’s fingers brushed against Louis’ right ear, and Louis felt goose-bumps prickle his skin in response to the gentle touch.

Harry then drew his gloves from his coat pocket. He took hold of Louis’ left hand and slipped one of the gloves over his fingers, before doing the same with his right.

They stared deeply into each other’s eyes, speaking to each other without saying a word. 

Harry let go of Louis’ right hand. 

‘Shut up,’ he whispered, before turning on his heel and heading out into the cold. 

As Louis watched Harry disappear into the crowds of pedestrians, he struggled to make sense of what had just happened. There was a mass of emotions swirling through his body. Despite having felt complete despair just a few minutes before, the emotion Louis now felt most strongly, the one he grasped onto, was hope. For the first time since he moved to London he felt hopeful. Maybe things with Harry might work out okay after all? 

~~~

The following morning, Louis returned to work. He was still wearing his thin denim jacket, but now felt warmer and cosier thanks to Harry’s rainbow scarf, hat and gloves. 

As Louis made his way to his office he waved at Niall on reception, who was balancing precariously on a swivel chair as he stretched upwards to place an angel on top of the office Christmas tree. Christmas songs played quietly and filled the air with a festive cheer.

‘How’s things going, Nialler?’ Louis asked. ‘The tree is looking good.’

‘Cheers, Tommo, mate,’ Niall exclaimed in excitement, ‘Came in early to put up the decorations around the office and I’ve just finished, so you’ve timed it right. Do me a favour and flip the switch over there. You need to turn on the fairy lights to get the full effect.’ He waggled his finger in the direction of a plug socket on the wall close to where Louis was standing.

Louis gasped and placed a hand over his heart. ‘You want me to turn on the official Cowell Publishing Christmas lights?’ he asked Niall, who was now clambering ungainly down from his chair. ‘This is such an honour.’ 

Niall snorted. 

‘Honestly, Nialler, take this more seriously, please,’ Louis requested, grinning at the Irishman before flipping the power switch. The Christmas tree lit up with multi-coloured lights that flickered and twinkled. The strings of lights that were festooned across the walls and over the reception desk shone bright and added a real sparkle to the office.

Niall and Louis glanced around the newly-decorated reception space. ‘I have to say, you’ve done a really nice job, lad.’ Louis said, impressed. ‘The place looks incredible. You’ve not held back on the tinsel, either. Love it.’

‘It’s not too over the top, is it?’ Niall asked hesitantly, staring at the multiple garlands that now filled the room.

‘How can anything be too over the top at Christmas?’ Louis queried. They smiled at each other before Louis sighed. ‘I don’t want to leave, but duty calls.’ He nodded at Niall and headed off in the direction of his office.

‘Take it easy, Tommo,’ Niall called after him, ‘Don’t work too hard.’

~~~

As Louis walked past the break room he spotted Harry making two hot drinks. Harry glanced up briefly at Louis as he tentatively entered the room. ‘Hi Harry,’ Louis said, shooting him an awkward smile. Harry scowled back, although the corners of his mouth twitched upwards momentarily when he noticed what Louis was wearing. 

‘Niall’s put the Christmas decorations up,’ Louis continued as brightly as he could. ‘The reception space feels really festive now.’

‘I know. He was decorating the tree when I got in,’ Harry replied as he fished the used tea bags from the mugs and flung them rather violently into the bin. 

Harry had sounded disinterested when he spoke and for a few moments they shared an uncomfortable silence whilst Louis racked his brain for what to say next. Harry took the milk from the fridge and slammed the fridge door shut. Louis flinched at the sound. 

Harry then swung himself round so they faced each other. ‘I won’t just pretend yesterday didn’t happen, Louis, so don’t start trying to act like you’re my best mate all of a sudden.’

‘I’m sorry. I won’t,’ Louis whispered in shocked response. ‘I just want to start making things better between us, but I know I’m going about things all wrong.’

Harry groaned and let out a heavy sigh. ‘You’re not doing anything wrong, Louis. It’s me. I’m acting like a right prat, aren’t I? My head is just in a bit of a mess from everything that happened.’

‘Yeah, I totally get that, and I’ll give you a bit of space, I promise,’ Louis reassured him. 

Not knowing what else to do, he pulled the hat from his head and held it out to Harry. ‘Thanks so much for letting me borrow this, by the way. It made a big difference.’

‘You keep hold of it, then,’ Harry replied. ‘I wore a different hat today so don’t need it.’ 

Louis hesitated. 

‘It’s just a bobble hat, Louis,’ Harry snapped in exasperation. ‘Stop making it into a big deal.’ 

‘Okay, sorry,’ replied a chastened Louis as he took a few steps back towards the door.

‘Besides, you look cute in it,’ Harry murmured to himself as Louis was leaving. 

Louis stopped still and his mouth dropped open in surprise. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to have heard what Harry had said, but he turned to look back at him anyway. ‘You think I look cute, Styles?’ 

Harry’s cheeks began to flush and he shifted from foot to foot. ‘Only when you wear that hat, so don’t get a big ego or anything. I still think you are annoying as hell.’ 

With that Harry turned back to the kitchen counter and added a splash of milk to one of the drinks he was making. He gave it a quick stir and held the mug out to a now grinning Louis. ‘Here you are, Tomlinson,’ he said, unable to hold back a fleeting smile of his own. ‘Now go away and stop bothering me.’

~~~

A few days later, Louis was called to Simon’s office. As he arrived he was surprised to see Harry chatting politely with his boss. 

‘Hello there, Mr Tomlinson,’ Simon barked as Louis walked in. ‘Take a seat next to Mr Styles, please.’

Louis did so, suddenly anxious about the purpose of the meeting.

‘I’ll cut to the chase.’ Simon said, bruskly, scratching his nails over his scruffy grey beard as he talked. ‘Cowell Publishing has just secured the contract to oversee a large-scale media campaign for the Azoff company and I need an editor to review all the campaign transcripts. Another publishing firm had been working on this, but Azoff was not happy with the direction they were taking the project, so they are out and we have been brought in. This is last minute and we have been given a deadline of Monday to have everything reviewed, approved and good to go.’

Louis gasped. ‘Monday. That’s only a few days away.’

‘Right you are, Mr Tomlinson, which is why I want you to work together with Mr Styles here on this. Two heads are better than one and all that. I know both of you are handling large caseloads at the moment, but this campaign could be the start of something massive for us and it really does need to be your main priority.’

With that, Simon handed bundles of documents to the pair. ‘All the details you need are contained in these packs.’

Louis and Harry cast awkward glances at each other. The animosity that existed between them following their argument the previous week had abated a little, although their conversations still felt quite tense and hadn’t yet sat down to try to resolve their underlying problems. Louis worried that working closely together might be a step too far at this stage and could damage the fragile peace they had established. 

Harry clearly felt the same. ‘This sounds great, Simon,’ he said, ‘but Louis and I haven’t collaborated with each other before.’

‘This will be a lovely new experience for the pair of you, then,’ replied Simon.

‘But given the importance of the project, and the tight deadlines, maybe it would be better if one of us oversaw it alongside an editor we have more experience of working with?’ Harry persisted.

Louis nodded in agreement.

‘No, Mr Styles, no. I want you and Mr Tomlinson here to work on this project together. And whilst you are working on it, I want no further repeats of the altercation that took place between the pair of you last week. Now, I couldn’t care less what you were both arguing about, but let me be clear that that sort of behaviour is not acceptable at Cowell Publishing. If there are any further instances, you will both be sent to HR and issued with formal warnings. Do you understand?’

‘Yes, Simon,’ said Louis and Harry, in unison, looking towards each other with a growing sense of unease. 

‘Good. I need to be certain that my members of staff work well as a team and at the moment there are question marks hanging over the pair of you. Reassure me, please. Do good work on this. I want the completed project on my desk first thing Monday morning.’

With that, Simon turned his attention back to his computer. Louis and Harry stood up and made their way out. They went to Louis’ office to review the paperwork they had been given.

‘Looks like we are working together on this, then,’ Louis said as he shut the door and made the way to his seat.

‘Looks like it,’ Harry replied, sighing in resignation as he settled himself into the chair across the desk from Louis. His shoulders were slumped forward and he stared at his fingernails studiously, which prompted Louis to frown in concern. 

‘How are you feeling about what Simon said?’ he asked, gently.

‘A bit shaken, if I am being honest,’ Harry replied, whilst twisting his fingers together. He seemed upset and spoke quietly as he internally reflected on the conversation that had just taken place. ‘I’ve never been in trouble with the boss before.’

‘I know what you mean,’ Louis empathised. ‘It was a bit scary in there, wasn’t it?’

‘Tell me about it,’ said Harry, with a nervous laugh. ‘I don’t want to go through anything like that again so we absolutely must not mess this project up.’

He looked up at Louis through watery eyes, visibly resolute in his determination to work hard on Azoff’s campaign. A rogue tear escaped and Harry quickly brushed it away from his cheek, looking down towards his hands once again as he took a couple of deep breaths. Louis’ heart sank and he felt a desperate urge to wrap his arms around Harry to comfort him, but he knew he couldn’t. They were work colleagues, Louis reminded himself. He wasn’t Harry’s friend. 

‘You know,’ he said, speaking from his heart, ‘although we have had our problems, I am really pleased to get the chance to work with you at last. You are an enormously talented editor, Harry, and I know I am going to learn such a lot. I love how creative you are in the way you approach your projects and you always bring original ideas to the table. Even though we’ve only got a few days to do this, I think we could produce some impressive results here.’

‘Do you really mean that?’ Harry asked, his voice wavering slightly. ‘You honestly think that highly of my work?’ 

An earnest Louis nodded his head. ‘You are so good at what you do, Harry.’

Harry’s cheeks began to flush and he appeared flustered by the praise. ‘I wish you wouldn’t say stuff like that. It makes it really hard for me to stay angry at you when you are being so nice,’ he admitted, looking at Louis and flashing him a genuine, dimply smile as he settled back into his chair. 

‘Well how about I keep being nice and you stop being angry,’ Louis responded, feeling a weight lift from his shoulders as Harry’s mood began to brighten, ‘because working on this project won’t be easy for either of us if you don’t want to speak to me.’

‘Yeah, well, I’ve tried to keep my distance since our stupid fight last week, but you are a difficult man to ignore,’ Harry continued, smirking slightly as he spoke, ‘and let’s face it, even if we end up driving each other round the bend, we’ll only have to work together for a few days. I am sure we can put up with each other for that long.’

‘That’s the spirit, it’s that positive mental attitude of yours that will guide us through the hell of working together,’ Louis said in response, shrugging his shoulders and giving Harry a crafty smile.

Harry barked out a laugh and opened his bundle of documents. ‘There you go again with the compliments, Louis.’ He shook his head as he squinted at the first page of the briefing notes. ‘Now, let’s see what this campaign is all about.’ 

~~~ 

Louis and Harry applied themselves diligently to the campaign, so by Friday they had completed most of their work. They came back to the office on the Saturday to finish everything off and make sure the project was ready for submission.

They had been working non-stop all morning and were due a break. Harry pushed himself away from his computer and leant back in his fancy ergonomic chair, stretching his arms over his head and yawning loudly. The hem of his jumper rode up as he stretched, exposing a couple of inches of bare skin above the waistband of his jeans. 

Louis flushed when he noticed what appeared to be laurel leaves tattooed across the expanse of Harry’s lower stomach. It was the hottest thing he had ever seen and his cock agreed, perking up immediately in interest. Don’t stare, don’t stare, don’t stare, Louis thought desperately as he tore his eyes away from the laurels and forced himself to focus instead on the grey clouds floating past the window.

‘I can’t believe how much progress we have made already,’ said a tired but impressed sounding Harry. ‘I never thought we could get so much done. My mind has turned to wool, though, so I think we’ve earned a break. How about we stop for lunch?’

With that, Harry leant forward and started to rummage in the bubble-gum pink tote he had brought with him.’

‘Oh,’ Louis said, shifting awkwardly in his chair, conscious that he hadn’t brought anything to eat. ‘Yeah, Harry, let’s take a break.’

Harry pulled a giant thermos flask and a foil-wrapped parcel from his bag. ‘I did a spot of cooking when I got home yesterday and made a spiced cauliflower and potato soup. Would you like to share? There is plenty for two and I have some chunks of crusty bread to go with it.’

Louis’ stomach rumbled at the thought. ‘That sounds amazing, Harry. Are you sure you have enough for the both of us?’

‘I certainly do.’ Harry said, breezily. ‘All we need to do is heat it up in the microwave and we are good to go.’

The soup was thick, creamy and delicious. Louis moaned in pleasure whilst he ate it.

‘Wish I could cook like that,’ he said as he scraped his spoon against the bottom of the bowl.

‘Wasn’t bad, was it?’ replied a satisfied-sounding Harry. ‘I usually make a large pot of soup every weekend and didn’t want to miss out today just because I had to work.’

‘I think that was a very wise decision,’ replied Louis who was now running his finger along the side of his bowl, desperate to capture every last drop.

Harry smiled. ‘Do you fancy a brew before we get back to work?’

‘Always,’ replied Louis. ‘Did you even need to ask?’

‘Not really, no, so do me a favour and stick the kettle on. I’ve just got to get something.’ With that, Harry left the break room, coming back a few minutes later waving another tinfoil parcel in the air. 

‘Ta dah,’ he declared brightly as he walked up to Louis and unwrapped the parcel to reveal a number of cookies cut into the shape of Christmas stars. There was an iced letter L or H in the centre of each star, whilst the edges were outlined with dots of colourful icing.

‘Thought these would go nicely with our cups of tea,’ Harry said.

Louis placed his cupped hands gently under Harrys to hold the tinfoil parcel steady as he stared at the Christmas stars closely. He felt humbled by how thoughtful Harry had been. 

‘Those cookies look incredible, Harry,’ he said, admiring the way they had been iced. ‘They even have our initials on them. Did you bake them yourself?’

Harry nodded proudly. ‘Made them last night whilst the soup was coming to the boil.’

‘You are a man of many talents,’ Louis said, impressed. ‘I wouldn’t know where to begin.’ With that, he took a bite from one of the Christmas stars and moaned obscenely. 

‘This cookie tastes like heaven,’ he declared as he licked a couple of crumbs from the corner of his lower lip. ‘It is honestly the best thing I have had in my mouth in ages.’

‘I don’t know whether to be flattered or feel very, very sorry for you,’ Harry said, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

‘Shut it, Curly.’ Louis admonished, shaking his head and taking another bite of the cookie. ‘Mmm, gorgeous. Why didn’t I know you could cook so well? You are wasted as an editor, you know. Ever thought about become a baker?’

‘Why? Are trying to get rid of me?’ Harry teased. 

‘No way, Harry, no,’ exclaimed Louis emphatically, shaking his head and smiling at Harry apologetically. ‘I didn’t think that through, did I?’ He grabbed hold of Harry’s lower arm and shook it as he spoke. ‘Please don’t become a baker. Stay here and work with me.’

‘Who’d have thought you’d have said that a week ago?’ Harry said with a laugh. 

‘I know, but it’s nice having you around,’ Louis replied sincerely, ‘I just don’t understand why it has it taken us so long to figure out that we sort of click?’

Harry shrugged. ‘We were idiots who didn’t stop to talk to each other properly or get to know each other, that is why.’

Louis murmured his agreement at this.

‘We do click though, don’t we?’ Harry said, reflectively, ‘and I’ve really enjoyed working alongside you as well. I felt so nervous when we started this project, but it turns out I had no reason to be.’

They were both quiet for a few moments as they drank their tea and ate more Christmas stars. Harry broke the silence. 

‘It’s funny you mentioned about me becoming a baker, because I actually used to work at a bakery.’

‘No way,’ replied Louis. ‘Seriously?’  
Harry nodded.

‘When did you do that then?’ Louis asked as he dunked a cookie in his tea and pictured Harry wearing an apron and fancy chef’s hat. ‘Tell me about it.’

‘I worked at my local bakery on Saturdays when I was at school. They had me doing all the odd jobs. I’d clean the glass display windows, sweep the floors, sell the pies and pastries. And there was always loads of washing up. Somewhere along the line I got to do a bit of baking as well and really loved it. It became a hobby for me.’

‘Bet the customers loved you,’ said Louis. 

Harry smiled fondly as he reminisced. ‘The older ladies did seem to take a shine to me. And not just the customers. Barbara, one of the women who worked at the bakery was a sweetheart and used to cover for me whenever I was late back from a break. She was really funny as well and always used to poke my dimples when I laughed.’

‘Who can blame her?’ Louis teased, wistfully. ‘You have very pokable dimples.’

‘Oh, do you think so?’ Harry said, biting his lip hard to hold down his grin. ‘I’ll let you poke them if you want.’

Louis shrieked at the suggestion and Harry snorted with laughter. 

‘I couldn’t think of anything worse,’ he said, leaping up and gathering together their bowls, mugs and plates. ‘You’re a menace, Harry Styles. Put your dimples away and stop showing off.’

Harry giggled and sashayed his way to the counter to grab a tea towel whilst Louis carried their crockery and placed it all in the sink. They chatted amicably whilst washing up and Louis purposely ignored the way his blood fizzed and his heart thumped loudly in his chest.

~~~ 

It was early evening by the time they completed the project. Louis was packing his bag in readiness to leave the office, but Harry remained seated at his desk as he stared into space.

‘Are you alright, Harry?’ Louis asked whilst squeezing into his denim jacket.

‘I don’t fancy going back home to sit alone all evening, to be honest.’ Harry replied. ‘Wouldn’t mind going to the cinema instead. Do you fancy coming with me? The new Ryan Gosling movie started last week and I’ve been bursting to see it.’

‘Who wouldn’t want to spend an evening with Ryan Gosling?’ Louis replied, smiling at Harry.

‘Exactly,’ Harry remarked, emphatically. ‘I swear my heart rate rockets whenever I see him. Grab your backpack, then, and we’ll set off,’ he said, leaping up from his chair. ‘We can get hot dogs whilst we are there so we won’t go hungry.’

Louis face fell. ‘I’d love to come, Harry, but I can’t. I didn’t bring my wallet.’

‘Don’t worry about that, Louis. I can treat you.’

‘But I might not be able to pay you back,’ Louis said, feeling more and more uncomfortable by the conversation. ‘Things are a little tight this month financially with Christmas being around the corner and all.’

‘Louis, I can stretch to the cost of a movie ticket and a hot dog,’ Harry insisted. ‘Please don’t deprive me of two hours with Ryan Gosling. Besides, we deserve a treat after working so hard.’  
Harry pouted and looked at Louis with sad, pleading eyes. He placed his hands together as if in prayer. ‘Please come with me, Louis.’ 

Louis felt his defences crumbling. ‘Alright, alright. I can’t say no to you whilst you are pouting at me like that. You look like a sad puppy. Besides, what sort of friend would I be if I kept you from your man crush?’ 

Harry began to smile broadly. 

‘What?’ Louis asked a second later when Harry’s smile kept getting wider. ‘Why are you grinning at me like that?’

‘Friend,’ Harry said, shyly. ‘You called me your friend.’

‘Oh,’ Louis blushed as the realisation dawned. ‘I did, didn’t I? Is it weird that I said that?’

‘A little bit, considering our past issues,’ Harry admitted, ‘but I am glad you think of me that way. It feels nice.’ 

Louis nodded. ‘I think it feels nice too. I mean, we didn’t get along for such a long period of time and I know we still have so much to sort out, but working with you over the last few days has been amazing. You are so warm, funny and kind and it has been ages since I felt this happy. So yes, I would like it very much if you would be my friend.’

Harry looked a little shy and flustered. ‘Come on then, friend,’ he said as he switched off his computer and put on his coat. ‘Ryan Gosling is waiting for me and I don’t want to be late.’

He watched fondly as Louis wrapped his scarf around his neck and pulled on his bobble hat. Louis looked up and rolled his eyes when he saw Harry gazing at him. ‘It’s the rainbow hat, isn’t it? You are staring at the rainbow hat.’ 

‘I can’t help it,’ Harry admitted, unperturbed. ‘You look too cute when you wear it.’

~~~ 

When they arrived at the cinema Harry bought their tickets and ordered extra-large hot dogs, fizzy drinks, bags of chocolate and a giant tub of popcorn for the pair of them. 

‘Do you think we are going to be able to eat all that?’ Louis asked in amusement.

‘We are two strapping young men in our prime, Louis. I think we can manage to eat a bit of popcorn’ Harry replied, assuredly, as he struggled to pick up all their food and drinks from the counter.

‘Let me help,’ Louis said, reaching out to pick up the popcorn. ‘If you carry the drinks and the chocolate, I’ll grab hold of your hot dog.’

‘Louis Tomlinson!’ Harry exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear, ‘what sort of friendship do you think this is?’

‘Oh God,’ Louis said, momentarily frozen in horror. ‘That sounded a bit smutty. I didn’t mean it like that.’

‘It’s fine, Louis,’ Harry replied, soothingly. ‘You find me irresistible, it’s understandable. You are only human.’ He winked and gave Louis a reassuring pat on the shoulder before picking up their drinks.

‘It’s your modesty that I find most attractive,’ Louis confessed in hushed tones, before smirking at Harry.

Harry honked out a laugh, looked at him and beamed.

‘No, forget that,’ Louis said in delight. ‘It’s that laugh. That’s what I like about you most of all, Harry. I go weak at the knees when I hear you laugh. It’s soooo sexy.’

Harry tutted in mock-offence as he struggled to keep the smile from his face. ‘I think I liked you better when you hated me,’ he said haughtily as he began to stride towards their screening room.

‘Tough luck,’ Louis retorted gleefully as he hurried to keep up. ‘You are my friend now, Harry Styles, whether you like it or not, so you are just going to have to put up with me.’

~~~ 

For a long time, Louis felt he had just been existing. Just been going through the motions. He had not been enjoying his life.

But during those three hours at the cinema whilst he watched the movie, ate his bodyweight in popcorn and tried not to laugh at the way Harry sighed blissfully when Ryan Gosling appeared on screen without his top on, Louis felt utterly content. 

For the first time in years he felt life was worth living.

After the movie ended, Louis escorted Harry to a taxi rank and kept him company until a black cab arrived. Once Harry was safely on his way, Louis began his walk home, happy.

~~~

Back at work, things were going well for Louis. Simon had given really positive feedback on the project he had completed with Harry and proposed that the pair work collaboratively for other clients, which Louis was keen to do.

Louis stopped at the bathroom after leaving Simon’s office. He walked in to see a very upset Harry Styles hunched forward over one of the sinks, frantically scrubbing at his shirt. A huge ink stain was splattered across the front and the shirt was soaking wet where Harry had obviously tried to rinse away the ink. Harry looked up and groaned when he saw Louis.

‘Oh great,’ he said, sarcastically. ‘Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any worse. Go on then, Louis, have a good laugh.’

‘I’m not laughing,’ said Louis as he made his way over to the sink. ‘Has your pen leaked?’

‘Yes. Everything has gone wrong.’ Harry wailed as he continued to rub over the stain with wet paper towels. ‘There is ink everywhere and I can’t get it off. I thought I’d dab at it with a bit of soap and water but doing that is just making the ink spread and now my shirt looks even worse and it’s wet as well. I have a really important client meeting starting in fifteen minutes and I don’t keep a spare shirt at the office. I don’t know what to do?’

‘Right,’ said a determined Louis, ‘let’s figure something out.’ He paused to take a closer look. ‘Crikey, that shirt is a right mess. Who’d have thought ink would spread so much?’

‘Louis, you are really not helping,’ Harry exclaimed desperately. 

‘Sorry, sorry,’ Louis apologised soothingly, before breaking out into a grin. ‘Okay, I’ve got it. Now, I would offer you my jumper but it might be a bit small… And I don’t want to hear one word about me being petite, Styles.’ 

‘Got it,’ Harry agreed. ‘You are a giant among men, Louis.’ 

Louis gave a satisfied nod. ‘You know it. Now, with regards to your shirt, how about I have a quiet word with Liam? He is a similar size to you. I’ll ask him to lend me his shirt and you can wear it at your meeting.’

Harry nodded as Louis spoke, looking more and more hopeful.

‘Whilst you are at your meeting, I’ll wave this monstrosity under the hand dryer,’ Louis continued, tugging at the hem of Harry’s shirt. ‘Then when your meeting has finished, I can give Liam his shirt back and you can change back into this. I’m not going to lie, I think this shirt is ruined, but once it is dry it should be okay to wear for the rest of the afternoon. Knowing you, some uber-trendy fashionista will spot you on the tube journey home and start a trend for ink-stained business shirts. Everyone will be wearing them tomorrow.’

Harry giggled, but then froze. ‘Wait. That will mean Liam will be shirtless whilst I am at the meeting. He won’t agree to that.’

‘Oh, young Harry,’ said Louis, patting Harry’s upper arm in reassurance, ‘that is where you are wrong. Liam is a bit of a fitness fanatic and is rocking an impressive six pack under his sensible office attire. Honestly, it is insane how ripped he is. Anyway, knowing Liam like I do, he will be more than happy for an excuse to show off his pecs. Leave him to me. I’ll be back in a minute.’ 

Louis rushed out, only to return shortly after waving Liam’s shirt in the air in triumph. 

‘Got it and it wasn’t a problem at all. Liam whipped his shirt off right away when I said you needed it.’

‘That’s amazing, Louis.’ Harry squealed. ‘Thank you so much.’ He began to undo the buttons of his shirt.

‘It’s a pleasure, Harry, but guess what,’ Louis bubbled with excitement. ‘You know Zayn, the new lad in the legal team who is covering Meghan’s maternity leave?’ 

Harry nodded. 

‘Well, he was sat in Liam’s room and when I left, Liam was flexing his biceps at Zayn and talking about his workout regime. Between you and me, I am sure something is going on between the two of them. Zayn was looking very flustered… and not in a bad way, if you catch my drift.’

‘Ooh, Zayn is so pretty and Liam is such a nice bloke,’ Harry said as he slipped his shirt from his shoulders. ‘I hope they do get together.’ 

Louis was about to reply but was rendered speechless when he saw shirtless Harry. The man was so broad and his left arm and torso were covered in tattoos. It was overwhelming. There were the laurels again, he thought appreciatively, but his eyes were drawn to a large butterfly sitting at the very top of Harry’s stomach. Louis felt an urge to reach out and touch it; to gently trace over the outline of its wings with his fingers. Hell, he wanted to lick it and cover it with love bites. Claim it as his. 

Louis began to burn up at the thought. His cock began to thicken and his mouth was so dry that it felt as if he had swallowed a bag of wood shavings. He handed over Liam’s shirt and turned away; taking several deep breaths to calm down as he desperately tried to think about anything other than a semi-naked Harry Styles. When he looked back, Harry was fully clothed and buttoning up Liam’s shirt. But he seemed quiet.

‘Is anything wrong, Harry?’ Louis asked. ‘Do you not like the shirt?’

‘It’s not that,’ Harry replied. ‘It’s just that I am always tripping up or spilling things and I break so much stuff. Why am I like this?’ he wailed. ‘I am just so useless and I am probably going to mess up at this meeting as well. The clients won’t take me seriously.’ 

Louis could hear the frustration in his voice. ‘Hey, don’t put yourself down like that,’ he insisted, protectively.

Harry shook his head. ‘Someone called me a clumsy giraffe once.’ He looked hesitantly at Louis through the mirrors. ‘I guess that sums me up.’

‘What fool would say something so stupid?’ Louis asked, guiltily.

Harry shrugged, smiling shyly at Louis.

‘Well, whoever said that was a complete fool. You have so many special qualities, Harry. You are kind, gentle and compassionate. So what if you get a bit of ink on your shirt occasionally, or drop the odd mobile phone? These things are fixable. It’s your personal qualities that set you apart and make you such a wonderful person to know and be friends with.’

Without warning, Harry surged forward and flung his arms around Louis, hugging him tightly. After an initial moment of shock, Louis hugged him back just as tight. They stayed pressed together, each drawing comfort from the embrace.

‘Come on, Harry,’ Louis said after a minute or so, his voice husky and broken. ‘We are probably making Liam’s shirt really crumpled. Step back and let’s see what you look like.’

Harry let go of Louis and glanced at the shirt in the mirror, smoothing his hands down the front of it. ‘It’s a little bit tight, but I think it fits, right?’ he questioned, looking anxiously to Louis for approval. 

Louis nodded. His throat still dry. 

He thought Harry looked truly beautiful. 

‘Liam does have some nice shirts,’ he responded feebly.

Harry raised his arms above his head and pirouetted in front of Louis to give him a better look at the shirt. He stood on his tiptoes as he twirled on the spot.

‘So, do I look presentable for a high-powered client meeting, then?’ he asked, turning to Louis. 

‘You’ll do.’ Louis replied, scared of revealing too much if he said more.

Harry looked at him contentedly. ‘Thanks, Lou, for everything.’ 

‘Yeah, yeah.’ Louis said shooing Harry away with his hands. ‘Get out of here, Styles, and go wow everyone at the meeting.’

~~~ 

That Friday night, Louis was snuggled in bed, watching tv and resting his feet on his hot water bottle. His boiler had finally been repaired and he’d not long come out of a piping hot shower, which had made him feel really sleepy. Louis’ eyes slowly began to close and he gently drifted off to sleep.

_“But I keep cruising,_  
Can’t stop, won’t stop moving  
It’s like I got this music   
In my mind, saying it’s gonna be alright” 

Louis woke up with a start as the chorus of “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift began to blast out loudly. 

‘Urgh, I really need to change my ringtone,’ Louis mumbled to himself groggily as he pressed the mute button on his tv remote. He leant across to his bedside table and picked up the phone.

‘Whoever is phoning me at this hour on a Friday night better have a damn good reason,’ he snapped.

‘Where are you Lou Lou? I’ve been looking everywhere for you,’ Harry shouted on the other end of the line. The strains of “Last Christmas” could be heard in the background. ‘Why aren’t you at the office Christmas party?’

‘Are you drunk?’ Louis asked in response.

‘Noooo, Louis, I am perfectly sober,’ said Harry, slurring his words. ‘Besides, it is Christmas so you are supposed to have a drink. And Simon splashed out and bought a couple of bottles of plonk for each table so he is basically encouraging us all to get sloshed.’

‘Blimey,’ said a genuinely surprised Louis. ‘Simon is spending money on you all. Take advantage of that then.’ 

‘I am doing,’ replied a determined Harry. ‘But the disco has started and I miss you. I want to have a dance with you. Why aren’t you here?’

‘The meal was a bit pricey,’ Louis explained, ‘so I’ve had to skip the party this year.’

Harry sighed dramatically.

‘Are you pouting, Styles?’ Louis asked.

‘How did you know that?’ Harry questioned as he moved the handset away from his ear to look at the screen. ‘Are we on facetime or something? That was spooky.’

‘No, I just know you,’ Louis replied. ‘It sounds really lively where you are. I’m amazed you even noticed I was missing.’ 

‘It was obvious you weren’t here, Lou Lou, because no one was being gobby, loud or annoying,’ Harry sang back, in delight.

‘Hang on, did Nick Grimshaw not go to the party either?’ Louis replied, sounding puzzled. 

Harry burst out laughing and hiccupped. ‘Shut up, Louis. Nick’s my mate.’ 

Louis groaned. ‘I think I need to draw a line under this conversation right now before you start telling me in excruciating detail all about how incredible Nick Grimshaw is.’

‘Come to the party, Lou Lou.’ Harry wailed, ignoring him. ‘Come and dance with me.’ 

‘I am sure Grimshaw will dance with you,’ Louis replied. 

Harry huffed. ‘I am sure he will too, but I would rather dance with you. Come on, Louis,’ he pleaded. ‘There is mistletoe here and everything.’ 

‘Harry Styles!’ Louis exclaimed. ‘Are you suggesting I come to the office Christmas party just so we can snog under the mistletoe.’ 

‘Absolutely not!’ Harry shrieked. ‘I can’t stand you. You know that.’ 

Louis laughed. ‘We are friends now, Harry, remember?’ 

‘Yes, I do remember,’ said Harry, ‘but as my friend you should be here tonight to keep me company.’ 

‘Spending the evening with you would have made me very happy,’ replied Louis, sincerely, ‘but I am not there, so you will have to be brave and party without me. Go and have fun, Harry.’ 

‘I WILL go and have fun,’ replied Harry, ‘but only on one condition.’ 

‘What’s that?’ asked Louis. 

‘Promise that you’ll do whatever I ask?’ Harry queried. 

‘Err, no, I don’t think so,’ Louis replied. 

‘Promise me, Louis.’ Harry insisted. 

‘Alright, alright, if it gets you off this phone so I can get some sleep, I promise.’ 

‘Good,’ said Harry, taking a breath. ‘So, seeing as you couldn’t be bothered to come out to this AMAZING party with me, you can make up for it by coming over to my flat tomorrow for lunch. You can make a grovelling apology for standing me up tonight and then spend the rest of the afternoon entertaining me until I decide that you are forgiven.’

‘Well that all sounds incredibly appealing, Harry,’ replied Louis, sounding unconvinced, ‘but I can’t come because I don’t have your address.’ 

‘That’s okay, Lou Lou, I’ll text it to you,’ said Harry. ‘No excuses,’ he added, ‘unless, you don’t want to spend time with me?’ 

‘I do,’ said Louis, emphatically. ‘I always do.’ 

‘Good, then, that’s settled,’ Harry declared. ‘I’ll see you at mine tomorrow at one o’clock.’

‘Fine,’ said Louis. 

‘Fine,’ repeated Harry. 

‘Now, get off the phone, Hazza. Go and have a good time.’ 

‘Oh, I will Lou Lou, I will. Don’t you worry about that.’ 

The line went dead and a few minutes later a text lit up the screen. It read ‘I’ll see you and your sexy bum tomorrow, Lou Lou. Happy Christmas to me!’ followed by a winky face, lots of peach emojis and Harry’s address. Louis smiled fondly and tried to get back to sleep even though that was pretty much impossible as his mind was doing little backflips and his heart was teeming over with excitement for the next day.

~~~ 

At one o’clock the following afternoon, Louis climbed the stairs to Harry’s flat. Under his jacket, he was wearing a soft knitted jumper that exposed his collar bones and a pair of tight black jeans that he knew made his arse look incredible. He was feeling a little apprehensive because apart from their trip to the cinema he had never socialised with Harry outside of work before, let alone spent the whole afternoon with hanging out together at his flat. 

Louis delicately swept his fringe away from his face, took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

And waited. 

After a minute or two, Louis checked Harry’s text message to make sure he had definitely come to the right address. He rang the bell again and knocked loudly on the door. 

‘Harry,’ he shouted through the letterbox. ‘Harry, it’s Louis.’

A few moments later, Louis heard movement coming from inside the flat. 

The front door opened slowly. 

Louis was greeted by a very hungover Harry Styles. Harry’s untamed curls stuck out at all angles and a light dusting of stubble peppered his top lip and chin. His eyes were still half-closed and encrusted with sleep. He wore plaid pyjama bottoms and a tatty-looking Rolling Stones t-shirt, finishing off the look with a well-worn, blue-checked dressing gown.

Louis thought Harry was the sexiest creature on earth. 

‘Good party, was it?’ he enquired, casually.

‘What’s the time?’ Harry croaked in reply, his voice even deeper than usual. 

‘It’s the time you told me to come over when you phoned me last night,’ Louis responded, endeared, ‘but I have clearly woken you up and I should imagine you are feeling a bit fragile after drinking so much of Simon’s free booze. I should go and let you get some rest.’

Louis turned to leave but Harry grabbed hold of the edge of his jacket to prevent him from moving away. 

‘Don’t think you are getting out of spending an afternoon with me that easily, Tomlinson,’ he tutted huskily as he tugged at the jacket and stepped to one side so Louis could enter the flat. Louis followed Harry along the hallway to a stylish open-plan kitchen and living room. 

‘I might have overslept a bit,’ Harry said, sheepishly, as he rubbed his hands over his face to wake himself up. ‘Sorry.’

‘I can believe it, judging by our phone conversation last night,’ Louis replied smugly as he shrugged off his jacket.

Harry groaned. ‘I didn’t make a fool of myself, did I?’

‘Not at all,’ Louis reassured him. ‘I mean, apart from the fact you burped really loudly at one point and kept calling me Lou Lou.’

Harry giggled, then winced and massaged his temples. ‘Got a small headache,’ he mumbled as he shuffled to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water and find his paracetamol tablets. 

‘It would do you good to eat something,’ Louis suggested as Harry downed the glass of water. ‘Might soak up the alcohol a bit.’

‘Something light might be quite nice,’ Harry agreed. ‘I haven’t made any soup today, obviously,’ He said gesturing to himself in his dishevelled, sleep-heavy state, ‘but there is a quiche and a bowl of mixed salad in the fridge. If I jump in the shower to wake myself up, could you pop the quiche in the oven and divide the salad onto two plates?’

Louis looked anxious. ‘I am not the best cook, Harry.’

‘I am only asking you to warm up a quiche,’ Harry replied fondly. ‘All the plates and things are in the kitchen, so just have a rummage in the drawers till you find whatever you need. You can do it, Louis, I believe in you.’ 

He waved his two hands in the air in support before heading towards his bathroom. 

Louis stood in the kitchen and processed what Harry had just said. Harry may have been teasing, but he said he believed in him and it felt nice. Very domestic and really, really nice.

He still felt nervous about cooking that quiche though.

~~~

After lunch, Louis stood up to leave. ‘Well, that quiche tasted gorgeous, even if I do say so myself, but I probably should head back home to let you recover from your hangover in peace. I’ve been chatting away non-stop and it can’t be helping your headache.’

‘No, don’t go just yet,’ Harry exclaimed. ‘I’m feeling a lot better already, I promise. The pain tablets have kicked in and it helped to take a shower and have something to eat. Why don’t we have a chilled-out afternoon and put a movie on or something? It will be nice.’

‘Okay, sounds good,’ Louis agreed, squawking as Harry began to push him towards the sofa, ‘but only if I get to pick the movie.’

Harry stopped walking and furrowed his brow. ‘Are you going to choose a rom-com?’ he questioned.

‘Probably,’ Louis admitted.

‘Then you can pick the movie.’ With that, Harry gave Louis a push and he sank back into the sofa. Louis spotted the remote and waved it above his head in triumph before searching through Netflix. 

‘Let’s see what we’ve got here,’ Louis said, frowning at the television as he scrolled through a list of films. ‘The Emoji Movie… Fifty Shades Darker… Transformers: The Last Knight. Well, they all sound pretty decent options, don’t they, Harry? I think I’d be up for seeing Transformers the most out of those three, but which one do you fancy watching?’

He glanced up to see Harry stood with his hands on his hips, looking distinctly unimpressed. ‘Please tell me you are joking, Louis.’

Louis burst out laughing and Harry tutted, hitting him over the head with one of his scatter cushions. ‘For one awful moment there I thought you were being serious and had the worst taste in movies,’ he said, shaking his head and pouting. ‘You can’t scare me like that whilst I’m feeling fragile.’

‘Aww, poor Harry,’ Louis said before turning his attention to Netflix and searching for a movie that they would both actually like to see. ‘How about we watch Love Actually?’ he asked as he turned to look back at Harry, who was now plumping the cushions at the opposite end of the sofa. ‘Does that sound a better idea than the Transformers movie?’

‘Yes, much.’ Harry nodded in approval.

‘Good,’ Louis said as he pressed play and settled back to watch. ‘I’ve seen it loads of times but it’s still one of my favourites and it’s the perfect film to get us in the mood for Christmas.’

As the movie started, Louis found himself sitting at one end of the sofa whilst Harry sat at the other, but Harry soon swung his legs up and sprawled out, rolling onto his side and pressing his feet against Louis’ outer thigh. Louis placed his hand around Harry’s ankle and absent-mindedly made small circles around the bone with the pad of his thumb.

But after a while, Louis’ joints began to ache. He had been sitting poker straight on the sofa for ages and his tight jeans were starting to feel really uncomfortable. He shifted in his seat and arched his back in an attempt to reposition himself, all whilst keeping his outer thigh pressed against Harry’s feet. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing that physical contact. 

Harry glanced over at Louis. ‘You don’t look very comfy,’ he said, frowning as he pushed himself up into a seated position, with his legs still outstretched. He prodded Louis’ thigh with his big toe. ‘Do you want to lie down with me for a bit? I can shuffle up if you do.’ 

Harry edged closer to the front of the sofa and patted the empty space behind him. Louis looked at the spot where Harry was gesturing, but paused before moving to fill it. ‘We’d be spooning, Harry,’ he said with some hesitance, unsure if this small act of intimacy might confuse things between them. ‘Are you asking me to spoon you? Would you like that?’

Harry blushed. ‘We would both be cosy and snug, wouldn’t we?’ he suggested, shyly. ‘Besides, Emma Thompson is going to open her Joni Mitchell CD soon and that bit always makes me so sad. You need to be here to look after me when I start crying, because I ALWAYS cry at that bit.’

‘Very good point,’ Louis said as he moved to lay down behind Harry. ‘That bit always gets to me as well. We can look after each other.’

Harry hummed in agreement and wiggled his hips forward so Louis could squeeze in behind him. ‘I am not squashing you, am I?’ he asked, tilting his head back to look at Louis.

‘Nah, we fit together nicely,’ Louis replied, smiling mischievously and ruffling Harry’s hair. ‘You are a very good little spoon.’

Harry huffed in mock annoyance. ‘Well, you are a rubbish big spoon. If you are going to spoon me, do it properly, Tomlinson.’ With that, he reached his hand out to take hold of Louis’ and he brought both their arms forward, so Louis’ arm wrapped around his waist. Harry interlocked their fingers and turned his attention back to the tv.

‘Better now?’ Louis enquired, murmuring fondly into his ear.

‘Better.’ Harry agreed, as they settled to watch the rest of the film.

~~~ 

After the movie ended, Louis and Harry sat back up and moved once again to opposite sides of the sofa, however they kept their feet up and left their legs tangled together. They chatted about work and their colleagues and their plans for Christmas. Harry told Louis about his family in Holmes Chapel and Louis talked about the presents he was buying for his sisters and brother up in Doncaster. 

‘It sounds expensive,’ Harry said. ‘Can you afford it all?’ 

‘Yeah, Harry, I’ve been saving,’ Louis replied, feeling sensitive to the question. ‘Why did you ask that?’ 

‘It’s just that I think things might be a little hard for you financially at the minute,’ Harry said gently as Louis looked down, unable to make eye contact as Harry continued. ‘You don’t have a winter coat, you walk everywhere rather than catch the tube, you avoid all the work nights out and you even ducked out of the office Secret Santa.’ 

‘Stop it, Harry,’ Louis said, quietly. 

There was silence between them for a moment, then Louis spoke again in a small, timid voice. 

‘Is it really obvious to everyone in the office then? That I haven’t got any money?’ 

‘Oh no, Louis, not at all,’ replied Harry, leaning forward to place a hand on his arm to reassure him. ‘You sort of just capture my attention,’ he confessed, looking decidedly awkward. ‘We are friends, you know, so I notice stuff.’

Harry took hold of Louis’ hands and interlocked their fingers. Louis squeezed their hands together. 

‘You are a pretty special friend to have, Harry,’ Louis said, sincerely.

‘Yeah, well, the feeling is mutual,’ said Harry, blushing. ‘Look, Lou, I don’t want to upset you or make you feel uncomfortable. I just wanted to see if I could do anything to help? And I don’t mean by giving you handouts or anything like that,’ he added hurriedly as Louis opened his mouth to protest. ‘But if you want to talk to someone about what is going on, then you can talk to me. Maybe between us we can figure out some way to make things a little bit easier for you?’ 

‘Okay,’ said Louis, exhaling heavily and looking up at Harry. There were tears in his eyes. ‘Okay. Maybe it would be good to talk. Heaven knows I can’t go on like this.’ 

Louis’ voice cracked at that admission. Harry squeezed his knee in reassurance. 

‘Put the kettle on then, Styles, and I’ll tell you all about it,’ Louis said with mock-bravado, smiling at Harry as he wiped his eyes.

Harry scrunched his nose at Louis fondly and broke into a grin before making his way to the kitchen. 

‘Oh, and if you have any more Christmas cookie stars lying around then I’ll have a few of them as well. They are gorgeous,’ Louis called out, as naturally as he could despite his head swimming and his heart racing. 

‘Flipping heck, you don’t want much, do you?’ replied Harry as he looked back to beam at Louis affectionately. He squawked and ducked as Louis threw a cushion at him. 

‘Behave yourself, Tomlinson,’ he scolded, ‘or you aren’t getting any of my cookies.’ 

Louis raised an eyebrow at Harry and Harry groaned. 

‘Urgh, I don’t know how I put up with you sometimes,’ he said, tutting in disapproval as he began to stack the Christmas stars on a plate. ‘You are such a tease.’ 

Louis giggled as he got up to pick up the cushion. ‘You love it when I tease you, Curly,’ he shouted over at Harry. ‘Admit it.’

‘Maybe I do love it Lou Lou,’ Harry replied, sassily. ‘But I will never admit it to you.’

~~~ 

Harry placed their hot drinks and Christmas cookies on side tables and settled himself back down onto the sofa so they were facing each other. Louis took a sip of tea and Harry looked at him in expectation.

‘Okay, so you’ve noticed that things haven’t been easy for me financially, but I would say my money problems actually started two years ago, after my mum died.’ Louis looked up at Harry. ‘She had an aggressive form of leukaemia.’

‘Oh Lou,’ Harry gasped, reaching out to squeeze Louis’ hand. ‘I didn’t know your mum had died. I am so sorry.’ 

‘Mum was my best friend and I miss her so much,’ Louis continued. ‘I miss chatting with her at the end of each day. She had this really cool ability to get me to look at things from different perspectives and she always made me feel better about whatever drama I was going through. I miss her hugs and I miss making her laugh. This week I have been wanting to tell her all about my fantastic new friend,’ he said, looking fondly at Harry. ‘In fact, I have been wanting to talk to her about you for ages, but I can’t. She’s gone.’ 

Louis let out a deep breath to settle himself. 

‘Mum was only forty-three when she died. She had me when she was really young. My dad was a complete waste of space and left when I was a baby. My five younger sisters and one little brother live with their dads now, apart from my sister Lottie who lives with her boyfriend, but money is really tight. I moved to London so I could earn a decent salary and I give my family as much as I can. I have been putting a little extra aside these past few months to buy everyone a decent Christmas present. This isn’t an easy time of year for us, so they deserve something special.’

Louis looked at Harry and gave him a small smile, which Harry returned. ‘Are you okay with me telling you all this?’ he asked, tapping the top of Harry’s thigh with his fingers. ‘It’s a bit of a heavy conversation to have when you are recovering from a hangover.’ 

Harry shook his head. ‘I am glad you have told me about your mum, even though it must be such a hard thing to talk about, so keep going, please. How is life for you in London right now?’

‘I’m finding things pretty tough, to be honest,’ Louis admitted. ‘My flat is really grotty and I feel I am just going through the motions, getting by from day to day as best I can.’

‘I didn’t know your mum, Louis, but I am sure she would have been heartbroken to see you struggle,’ Harry replied, speaking slowly and giving consideration to every word he said. ‘You are an amazing older brother, but can you look again at the amount of money you send back to your family? If you could keep a bit more for yourself, your life would be that little bit easier.’

‘I have thought about it, and I know it sounds crazy, but for the longest time I didn’t want life to be any easier,’ Louis confessed. ‘After mum died, I had no desire to laugh or be happy again.’

Harry’s face was pinched with worry. ‘I keep thinking of all the times I ignored you or said horrible things to you since we started at Cowell Publishing. You were grieving and I must have made things so much worse.’

Louis shook his head. ‘You didn’t know what I was going through and we both behaved like juvenile idiots. I am sorry for all the times I provoked you. I think I tried to push you away time and time again because I liked you but felt I didn’t deserve your friendship. I regret my behaviour so much and I hope you can forgive me?’

‘Only if you forgive me too,’ Harry countered.

‘Of course,’ Louis said quietly. ‘Although I don’t think there is anything that I have to forgive.’

‘I don’t know about that; we’ve driven each other crazy at times,’ Harry admitted. ‘But there is something about you that is so special, Lou. Even when we didn’t get on I knew deep down we were meant to be friends. That’s what was so confusing about it all for me.’

‘There was always that unspoken connection between us, wasn’t there?’ Louis mused as he looked into Harry’s eyes and acknowledged his innermost feelings of the first time. ‘After mum died I felt so empty inside, but once I met you, all these emotions would well up inside me whenever we spent time together, even if we were being grumpy with each other. My heart would beat faster whenever I saw you. You brought me back to life and I am so grateful that you didn’t give up on me. When we had that big argument the other week I thought you wouldn’t speak to me again and I couldn’t bear it.’

Louis couldn’t hold himself back any longer and tears began to roll down his face. Harry pulled Louis into a hug and he nestled his head into Harry’s chest. 

‘I could never give up on you.’ Harry whispered gently into Louis’ ear as he cradled him in his arms. ‘And you aren’t on your own anymore, I promise.’

Louis’ body shook as he sobbed, but he felt so comforted by Harry’s words. 

Harry ran his fingers through Louis’ hair to soothe him. ‘You deserve to smile. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to feel joy in your life. You deserve to be loved.’ He placed gentle kisses to the top of Louis’ head as he spoke and continued to hold him tightly until his tears stopped. 

After he had calmed, Louis looked up at Harry and ran his hands over his tear-stained face. ‘Bet I look a right state.’ 

‘Nah,’ Harry replied, pulling Louis’ hands away from his face and gazing intensely into his eyes that were swollen and red rimmed from tears, but were still a sharp crystal blue. ‘You look beautiful, Lou. You always look beautiful to me.’

Louis’ nose was running and he sniffled loudly. ‘I’m sorry to spoil the moment but I am getting snot everywhere,’ he smiled apologetically. ‘Do you have a tissue?’

Harry smiled back at Louis and reached out to grab a box of tissues from the side table. ‘You’ve not spoilt anything, but I do think you need to get some financial help. Life will become easier if you do. Will you speak to your step-dads when you see them over Christmas?’

Louis nodded, ‘I will, Harry, I promise. Life has been so hard these past few years, but I am ready to move forward at last.’

‘Good,’ replied Harry, satisfied. ‘Now, we could both do with a drink and we haven’t even touched our brews. They are bound to be stone cold by now. How about I make us some fresh and we can have them with our cookies whilst you tell me all about your lovely mum?’ 

Louis smiled. ‘I’d like that, Harry, I’d like that a lot.’

~~~ 

Louis and Harry became inseparable after their afternoon together. They would sit next to each other at work meetings and spend their lunchbreaks hanging out in each other’s rooms. Their unexpected friendship had not gone unnoticed by the other staff and Liam spoke to Louis about it when Louis dropped by his office one afternoon.

‘I see you and Harry have kissed and made up following your argument the other week,’ he blurted out cheerily as soon as Louis walked through the door.

‘Good afternoon to you too, Payno,’ Louis replied, rolling his eyes and slumping down in a chair across the desk from his friend. 

‘Well,’ Liam prompted as he leant forward in anticipation. ‘Tell me what happened.’

Louis sighed dramatically and swept his fringe out from his eyes. ‘If you must know the details; Harry and I have made up but we haven’t kissed. We are friends. Good friends. And that is all.’

Liam didn’t try to hide his disappointment. ‘I was hoping for some juicy gossip there, Tommo,’ he said. ‘You’ve let me down, mate.’

‘Sucks to be you then, Payno,’ Louis retorted, unbothered. ‘But as we are speaking of juicy gossip, what is going on between you and Zayn?’ 

Liam looked like a deer caught in headlights. ‘What are you talking about?’ he asked in mild panic.

‘I am talking natural chemistry, compatibility, mutual attraction,’ Louis replied. ‘The pair of you have it in spades.’ 

Liam groaned and placed his head in his hands. ‘We may have kissed at the office Christmas party,’ he mumbled.

Louis’ mouth fell open in shock and he sat upright in his chair. His eyes were as wide as saucers. ‘Oh. My. God.’ he pronounced loudly, emphasising each word. ‘I had a feeling you both secretly fancied each other but I had no idea you had already kissed.’ ‘Payno, you are such a dark horse.’

Liam tutted, but couldn’t stop smiling at Louis’ reaction. ‘We are going on our first proper date on Friday and I don’t want to mess things up so if you say one word about this to Harry or to anyone else in this office, then I will absolutely lose it.’ 

‘I promise, Payno. I won’t say anything to anyone.’ Louis said earnestly, drawing multiple small cross symbols over his heart with his fingertips. ‘Cross my heart.’

‘Okay,’ said Liam, reassured by Louis’ response.

‘So, you really like him then?’ Louis prompted.

‘Yeah, we just clicked straight away and have so much in common,’ Liam replied wistfully. ‘We both like our action heroes, music and art. Zayn can be broody and he acts like a real bad boy, but when you talk to him he is so sweet and funny. He is really smart and even writes poetry, plus he is completely gorgeous. Honestly, Tommo, I go weak whenever I see him.’

‘I am so pleased for you,’ Louis said, beaming at his friend. ‘This is the best news.’

‘Thanks,’ Liam replied, happily, ‘but tell me more about what happened between you and Harry. The other week he was your arch nemesis and now you are both inseparable.’

‘To be honest, I wasn’t sure Harry would want to speak to me again after our big argument,’ Louis admitted, ‘but when we worked on that project together we just seemed to get on so well. It felt like we had known each other for years. Then we had a big heart to heart at the weekend and I opened up about some personal stuff and now we are officially friends.’

‘Would you want to be more than his official friend?’ Liam asked.

Louis leant back in his chair and pulled one arm across his body as he considered Liam’s question. 

‘Harry and I spent so much time fighting that I feel lucky that he is willing to be my friend,’ he said. ‘I am not going to push Harry for more than that, or make him feel uncomfortable in any way.’

‘You are talking about what Harry might want,’ Liam replied, gently, ‘although I suspect he would like more from you than you realise. But you are my best mate and I want you to put yourself first just this once. What do you want, Louis?’

Louis hesitated for a moment. He hadn’t before dared to admit what he yearned for deep in his soul, but he was trying to make positive changes in his live and he knew he needed to be honest, both to Liam and to himself.

‘I want Harry,’ he said with determination. ‘It’s as simple as that. I have fallen head over heels for Harry.’

‘Then go get him,’ Liam replied, shrugging his shoulders and grinning at his friend.

~~~ 

The day before Cowell Publishing was to close for Christmas and the New Year, Louis and Harry caught a taxi to travel over to a wrap-up meeting with Mr Azoff, the client whose project they had worked on together. Azoff also wanted to discuss their involvement in some additional ventures that were still in the pipeline. They were both anxiously reviewing their notes and discussing their key messages one last time as they sat together in the back of the cab. Harry’s face appeared strained and he bounced his leg up and down repeatedly. Louis reached out and rested his hand firmly on Harry’s thigh to settle him.

‘Sorry, Lou.’ Harry said, looking up from his notes in response to Louis’ touch. ‘I’m just nervous for this meeting, you know. Simon will be so pissed if we stuff things up and don’t get offered a new contract with Azoff.’

Louis gave his friend’s thigh a quick squeeze in an attempt to offer some comfort. ‘I’m not going to lie, this whole thing pretty much terrifies me as well, but I just keep reminding myself that we are well prepared for today and the work we have done for Azoff already has been flipping brilliant, even if I do say so myself. Dazzle the bloke with your Harry Styles charm and he will be eating out of your hand.’

‘My Harry Styles charm,’ Harry scoffed. ‘So, you think I am charming then?’

Louis tilted his head and smiled fondly. ‘Are you fishing for compliments, there, Curly?’

Harry grinned. ‘Think I’m still getting used to you saying nice things to me,’ he admitted as he unconsciously twirled the ring that sat on his right middle finger. 

Louis closed his file of papers and twisted his body towards his friend. ‘Well then you’d better get used to it because I have no intention of stopping. And I do think you’re charming, by the way.’ 

‘You didn’t always think that, though,’ Harry countered, smiling affectionately as he pulled his seatbelt lower so he could curl up in in his seat. He rubbed his knuckles absentmindedly against Louis’ kneecaps. ‘You didn’t even like me when you met me.’

‘Yeah, well, maybe I did like you.’ Louis admitted, smiling back and reaching out to smooth the lapel of Harry’s overcoat with his fingers. ‘Maybe I just hid it well.’

‘You didn’t hide it all that well in that staff meeting a few weeks ago when Simon spotted you ogling me.’ Harry teased. 

Louise cheeks pinked in embarrassment. ‘You do know that if we are to remain friends, you can never talk about that moment again… or say the word ogling. I wanted to ground to open up and swallow me whole when Simon pointed it out to everyone.’

Harry smirked. ‘Got to admit, it really took me by surprise when he said that.’

Louis was struck with a sudden sense of unease. ‘I am sorry if you felt weird or anything,’ he mumbled awkwardly. ‘I didn’t realise I had been staring.’ 

Louis couldn’t bring himself to look at Harry and in embarrassment pulled his bobble hat forward until it covered his face down to his chin. 

‘It wasn’t weird at all, I promise,’ Harry said in reassurance, pinching Louis’ thigh. Louis squealed at the touch and giggled.

‘Stop making me laugh, Styles,’ he said, his voice muffled. He squirmed in his seat as Harry continued to nip at his lower thighs with his fingers, ‘I am trying to be mortified over here and you are making it very difficult for me.’

Harry cackled with laughter. ‘Don’t hide, Lou, you know I wasn’t bothered,’ he said as he surged forward and grabbed hold of the bobble on Louis’ hat, pulling it clean off his head. 

Louis squawked and clamped his hands over his head in a futile attempt to keep hold of his hat. ‘Hi there,’ he whispered shyly, looking at Harry once more. He desperately tried to smooth down his flyaway hair that was now sticking up in all directions.

‘Oops-a-daisy,’ Harry replied sassily, waving the hat in front of Louis. ‘Your hat fell off.’ 

As Louis took hold of his hat, their fingers tangled together for a brief second and he shivered at the contact. It felt as if a bolt of electricity had passed between the pair of them.

Harry pulled his hand away, placing it back in his lap. ‘Seriously though, Lou,’ he said, ‘those staff meetings are achingly dull so I’m not surprised your mind wandered. In fact, I think Simon was a bit of a shit for pointing it out.’ 

‘When isn’t he a bit of a shit, though?’ Louis replied.

Harry murmured his agreement. ‘If I am being honest,’ he said quietly, taking time to consider his words, ‘when Simon said you had been staring at me, I was pleased. I liked it. I wanted you to look at me.’ 

He glanced up at Louis to gauge his reaction. Louis was confounded by Harry’s words but he held Harry’s gaze. ‘I had spent most of the meeting thinking about how pretty you looked,’ he admitted, with some trepidation. His heart pounded in his chest.

‘Is that right?’ Harry prompted, biting on his lower his lip to hold in a breath. 

‘That’s right,’ Louis confirmed, emboldened by Harry’s response. ‘I kept thinking about how beautiful you are when you smile and your dimples pop.’ 

They were stepping beyond friendship, but Louis couldn’t bring himself to stop. He reached out a hand and cradled the side of Harry’s face. Harry instinctively leant into Louis’ touch and Louis tenderly brushed his thumb over Harry’s dimple. 

‘I wondered what it would feel like to wrap my finger around one of your curls.’ he continued in a fractured voice. He ran his fingers slowly through Harry’s hair before scratching his nails gently across the soft downy hairs to the nape of Harry’s neck. Harry shivered at the tingling sensation. 

‘Do you like it when I play with your hair, love? Does it feel good?’

Harry’s pupils were darkening as he looked at Louis and nodded. Louis felt a wave of heat ripple through his body as he pulled more firmly on a handful Harry’s curls. Harry tilted his head back to expose the skin to his throat and moaned.

Louis hummed in satisfaction as he inched closer. Harry was breathing deeply and Louis placed the palm of his hand over the centre of Harry’s chest to feel him breathe in and out, in and out.

‘Do you like it when I touch you?’

‘Yes’ Harry whispered.

‘And what else do you like? What else can I do to you to make you happy?’

‘There is so much that I’d like you to do, Lou, but for now we need to calm things down a little,’ Harry whispered, jerking his head towards the window as the taxi slowed down and pulled up outside Fleetwood Tower, the massive skyscraper that housed the Azoff company’s head office. 

Louis immediately edged away from Harry and shuffled back in his seat. He pulled his bobble hat back on and tried to subtly press a heel to his thickening cock to suppress his growing arousal. Harry also shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he stared resolutely out of the window whilst undoing his seatbelt and taking a few deep lungfuls of air.

‘Right, gents. Here we are,’ the taxi driver called out loudly from the front.

‘Thanks pal.’ Louis shouted back, his voice cracking slightly as he grabbed hold of his folder of papers. ‘You’re charging it to the company account, yeah?’

‘Yeah, mate, cheers,’ the taxi driver shouted as Louis leant forward to sign his ledger confirming their name, company and details of the route. He then got out of the cab and held the door open for Harry.

‘How are your nerves now?’ he asked tenderly, placing his hand gently to the small of Harry’s back as they walked towards the imposing company building. His mind was swirling and he was unsure how to act or what to say following how heated things had gotten between them.

‘I completely forgot we were even going to a meeting,’ Harry mumbled sheepishly, struggling to make eye contact with Louis.

‘Well that’s good, isn’t it?’ Louis responded, squeezing Harry’s waist reassuringly. 

Without warning, Harry stopped dead in his tracks and focused his attention on kicking at the edge of a paving slab that was protruding slightly. ‘What just happened, Lou? Was that just some game to keep us from worrying about our meeting?’

‘I’m not playing any games and I certainly wasn’t expecting that to happen.’ Louis said emphatically, ‘but I am glad it did. Everything I said to you just then was real and I meant every word.’

‘It was real for me too, Harry agreed shyly. He looked up at Louis and grinned. ‘But you definitely calmed my nerves for a few minutes there as well. In fact, I am going to get nervous more often if that is how you distract me.’ 

‘Are you okay with what just happened, then?’ Louis asked anxiously.

Harry nodded. ‘Are you?’ 

‘Yes, but I don’t want anything to mess up our friendship, so I promise I won’t let things cross that line again.’

‘That’s a shame,’ Harry said. ‘I was sort of hoping that you would.’

Louis was stunned but Harry simply looked at his watch with as much nonchalance as he could muster. ‘We should be in there,’ he said, nodding his head towards the building’s imposing entrance.

‘We should,’ Louis agreed, gearing himself up for a last-minute pep talk, ‘but before we go in let me just remind you, Styles, that neither of us have any reason to doubt ourselves or be nervous. We are two young, smart, professional editors at the top of our game. Our work for the Azoff company’s last campaign was spot on and I’ll be right by your side every step of the way today. Let’s get in there and dazzle our client.’

With that, Louis strode forward and entered the building with purpose.

Harry nudged Louis’ arm as they waited at reception, leading Louis to look at him, questioningly. ‘You dazzle me all the time,’ he whispered into Louis’ ear.

Louis blushed profusely as Harry licked his lips and ran his eyes up and down Louis’ body, hungrily. Harry then turned to beam at Azoff who was striding up to them.

Harry Styles had to be sexiest man he had ever seen in his life, Louis thought to himself. And the sassy minx now had his dimples fully on display. Louis wondered how on earth he was going to survive.

~~~ 

The meeting went better than they could have hoped and Azoff agreed to draw up contracts for Cowell Publishing to oversee the editing work for more projects in the new year. Louis and Harry talked about the outcomes from the meeting during the journey back to their office and identified the key points that they needed to communicate to Simon. It all felt very professional, except that they had been holding hands from the minute they had walked out of their meeting and there was no sign that either of them was planning to let go.

As the taxi pulled up outside their office, Louis tugged his bobble hat further over his ears with his free hand to protect himself from the soft flakes of snow that were beginning to fall. Harry smiled at him with affection. ‘That hat makes you look so soft and fluffy,’ he said fondly.

‘Thanks, I like it a lot.’ Louis said, patting at his hat. ‘Some really fit bloke gave it to me as a present, actually.’

Harry beamed. ‘Clearly a bloke with good taste. Now come on, Lou. Let’s go upstairs and tell Simon all about how fantastic Azoff thinks we are.’

They exited the taxi and made their way across the ground floor lobby to the lifts.

‘It’s all thanks to you that we were offered this new contract, you know,’ Louis said proudly as he and Harry got in an empty lift and he pushed the button for their floor. ‘Azoff was so impressed with your presentation. You could tell he really adored you.’

Harry looked down at his feet and frowned for a second as he struggled to accept the compliment. Louis squeezed Harry’s hand to reinforce the praise that Harry deserved. ‘Everyone who meets you adores you.’

Harry looked up into Louis’ eyes. ‘Even you?’ he questioned, hesitantly.

Louis stepped closer until their bodies were almost touching. ‘Especially me,’ he whispered back. He leant forward and tilted his head upwards, lifting onto his tiptoes as he brushed his lips softly against Harry’s.

‘I adore you, Harry,’ he whispered as he pulled at the fabric of Harry’s shirt, encouraging him to lean slightly closer. Louis then gave Harry another soft, chaste kiss as the lift bell chimed. Louis took a reluctant step back as the doors opened.

‘I am not going to hide how I feel about you any more,’ he promised as he exited the lift. 

~~~ 

The next morning, Louis came charging into his building’s main lobby carrying a heavy bag filled with Christmas presents, clothes, toiletries and all the other bits and pieces he’d need for the next ten days. He was leaving work early to catch the bus back to Doncaster where he’d be spending his Christmas and New Year with his sisters and brother. But Louis was running late because he’d spent far too long stood in front of his mirror deciding what to wear and then messing about with his hair. He tried to tell himself he put extra effort into looking smart because he’d be seeing his siblings later, but who was he kidding? It was because he wanted to look good for Harry. 

Louis walked briskly through the main foyer and pressed the button to call the lifts, staring up at the numbers on one of the overhead panels as a lift began to travel slowly back to the ground floor. 

‘Where have you been? I‘ve been waiting ages.’

Louis grinned as he looked round to see a pouting Harry stood directly behind him looking like a slightly grumpy kitten. Dear God, does Harry know how hot he is when he pulls that face, Louis wondered to himself.

The doors sprang open and they entered the lift together. ‘We have got to stop meeting like this,’ Louis joked as he pressed the button for their floor.

Harry didn’t reply, but as the doors closed he immediately crowded Louis into the far corner of the lift. He latched his lips onto Louis’ and kissed him passionately as their bodies pinned together. There was a sense of desperation about the way Harry kissed. He was hungry to taste Louis and Louis couldn’t get enough. He kissed back just as firmly, licking into Harry’s mouth. It felt so good. 

The lift shuddered and Harry broke apart from Louis, taking a step away from him, as he was suddenly startled back into reality. 

‘Well I guess that answers my question about whether our kiss yesterday was a one-time thing.’ Louis joked as their chests rose and fell rapidly and they both panted for air. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

‘Did you want it to only be a one-time thing?’ Harry asked with alarm as he ran his hand through his hair.

‘Not a chance,’ Louis scoffed at the thought, ‘but I wasn’t sure if you would have regretted kissing me.’ 

‘Why on earth would I regret kissing you?’ Harry asked, puzzled. The lift reached their floor and the doors opened. Louis caught a glimpse of Niall practicing his golf swing in reception. 

‘Morning, lads,’ Niall shouted over in greeting when he saw them.

‘Looking good there, Nialler,’ Louis shouted back as he took a step forward to exit the lift. 

Harry tutted at the interruption and placed a hand to Louis’ chest, pushing him firmly back into the far corner of the lift. Louis could see a baffled Niall stare at them in confusion as Harry bashed his other fist against the lift’s control panel until the button to another floor lit up. He then back to Louis, still seeking an explanation.

‘Just take a look at me, Harry,’ Louis said, letting his insecurities rush to the surface. ‘You are   
wonderful, smart, funny and gorgeous. Why would you choose to kiss some loser with absolutely no money who can’t cook and who lives in a grotty, run down flat? I’m nothing to write home about in the looks department and to top it off, I spent the past eighteen months giving you a hard time.’ 

Harry frowned at him. ‘What on earth are you talking about, you idiot? Number one, I couldn’t care less about how much money you have or where you live. I’m not that superficial, thank you very much. And number two, you are absolutely stunning and I’ve always been so insanely attracted to you. Surely you can see that? The first day I met you I got so flustered that I dropped your phone, for heaven’s sake. That’s how goddam sexy you are.’

‘Oh,’ Louis gasped, feeling slightly sick that he had been so grumpy with Harry at the time.

‘And you are the furthest thing from a loser, thank you very much.’ Harry continued, indignantly. ‘You are the kindest, most compassionate man and you always put others first. You inspire me every day. You make me laugh all the time and I feel I can achieve anything when you are by my side. Plus, you love rom-coms and you are excellent at heating up quiches. Why wouldn’t I want to kiss you?’ 

Louis’ head was swimming. ‘But you are just so lovely though. Why?’ he queried in a pretty lame attempt to explain his insecurities.

‘For goodness sake.’ Harry exclaimed in exasperation. ‘I fancy the arse off you, Louis Tomlinson, and I am going to prove how much I don’t regret kissing you.’ He took a step towards Louis. ‘And I am going to keep proving to you how much I don’t regret kissing you again and again and again and again.’

As his lips locked with Louis’ once more, the lift chimed to announce it had reached its new destination. Harry groaned and broke away, repeatedly hitting the button for their floor until the lift doors shut closed.

‘Stupid lift.’ Harry muttered under his breath as he moved back into Louis’ space. ‘Now, where were we?’ he whispered as he leaned in and pressed his lips to Louis’, snogging him senseless. 

~~~

As Louis sat on the bus to Doncaster that evening, he continued to replay everything that had happened with Harry the past few days back in his head. The conversations, the flirting, the kissing. Louis couldn’t quite believe it had all happened but he knew he wanted more. Much more. 

Of course, it was sods law that they had kissed and admitted that their feelings for each other ran beyond friendship immediately before spending ten days apart. Louis was heading up to Doncaster and Harry was planning to travel up to Holmes Chapel tomorrow to spend Christmas with his mum and sister. Although Louis was desperate to see his family, his insides felt empty knowing he would be apart from Harry for such a long time. Louis could see how much better life was when Harry was with him.

Whilst he was daydreaming, Louis’ phone lit up with a facetime message. He grinned as he accepted the call and saw his friend, if that was the right word to describe Harry now, beaming at him from the other side of the screen. 

‘Hey, Lou Lou.’ Harry called out, ‘you’ve been gone ages, so I thought I’d give you a call, see how you are doing.’

‘Hey yourself, Curly,’ Louis responded, his eyes crinkling in happiness as he smiled at the gorgeous man staring at him from the other side of the screen. ‘I’ve only been gone an hour, you know.’

‘Exactly what I said. That’s ages,’ Harry said, resolute. ‘So, what are you up to?’

‘Sitting on a bus and thinking about you.’ Louis replied. ‘And I’m gearing myself up to spending the next ten days hanging out with my sisters and brother, eating too much turkey, listening to non-stop Christmas songs, pulling lots of Christmas crackers and having a heart to heart about money and stuff with my stepdads.’

Louis grimaced as he thought about the conversation that needed to take place. 

‘Glad to hear it.’ Harry said.

‘Yeah, well, some curly bloke made me promise that I would.

Harry nodded in approval. ‘Stay away from any mistletoe, please, and keep your phone charged because I WILL be facetiming you loads. Just because we won’t be together physically, doesn’t mean we can’t be together over Christmas. Besides, I want you to say hello to my mum and my big sister and you will have to introduce me to all your sisters as well.’

‘And my little brother.’ replied Louis happily.

‘Of course,’ Harry replied. ‘And your little brother.’

‘Promise me we’ll stay in touch.’ Louis insisted. ‘I need you.’

‘Promise,’ Harry said. ‘We’re a team now, Lou.’

~~~ 

True to his word, Harry constantly phoned, facetimed and texted Louis over the Christmas break. A rather tipsy Harry, knocking back the mulled wine, sang a slurry version of Happy Birthday to Louis on Christmas Eve. He then phoned Louis early on Christmas Day, excited to be the first person to wish him a Happy Christmas. Louis didn’t have the heart to tell him that his youngest sister and brother had already beaten him to it when they ran into his room in the early hours of the morning, jumping on his bed because Father Christmas had been. Louis facetimed Harry every night before going to sleep and they wished each other Happy New Year at midnight on New Year’s Eve. As the clocks chimed and everyone around them were cheering and hugging, Harry told Louis to look up to the stars and make a wish.   
Louis wished that this New Year would be easier than the last. And whilst he looked up to the stars, chatting to Harry on facetime, he could already feel his wish coming true.

~~~ 

When he returned to London, Louis went straight from the bus station to Harry’s house. ‘I’ve not been home yet,’ he announced as Harry opened his front door. ‘Didn’t want to go back there, to be honest. Just wanted to give you a cuddle.’ 

‘What are you waiting for, then?’ replied a beaming Harry, holding the front door ajar so Louis could step inside. Louis dropped his bag carelessly into a corner of the hallway as he launched himself into Harry’s arms, reluctant to let go. They stood together for several minutes, holding each other close and placing soft kisses to each other’s lips. Louis felt so at home in Harry’s embrace. Completely safe and secure. The pair of them just seemed to fit together perfectly.

‘It’s so nice to see you,’ Harry said, keeping hold of Louis but leaning back slightly to look at him. ‘Facetime was good, but I couldn’t put my arms around you.’ 

‘Tell me about it,’ replied Louis, groaning. And you don’t even want to know how badly my sisters teased me whenever I went to my room to facetime you. Oooh, are you going to speak to Harry AGAIN. You really fancy him, don’t you? Do you snog each other? Is he a good kisser? Can we be bridesmaids when you get married?’

Harry scoffed. ‘Oh, I know very well what you went through, thanks. I’ve got a sister too, remember. Only I had to put up with endless smooching noises whenever Gems spotted me on the phone with you. She’s nearly thirty but was acting like a total child.’ 

Harry pouted and Louis couldn’t help but smile. He reached out to brush away a lose curl that had fallen into Harry’s eyes. Harry smiled back affectionately. 

‘I feel bad asking this because you’ve just got here,’ he said, ‘but can you please tell me about the conversation with your step-dads before we do anything else. I know you said you’d prefer to talk to me in person about what happened, but I’ve not stopped worrying and I’d really like to hear how things went.’

Louis nodded. ‘Of course, Harry. It’d be good to talk it through, actually.’

‘Good,’ Harry replied, nodding his head in satisfaction. ‘Then afterwards, I am going to kiss you some more and maybe we could try some other things as well.’ He waggled his eyebrows suggestively whilst grinding his crotch firmly against Louis thigh and squeezing his bum. Harry broke free from their hug and nonchalantly walked over to the sofa.

‘I am all for trying other things with you, Curly,’ Louis said, hurrying after Harry, ‘but just to let you know, behaving like a hunky dreamboat right before we start a serious conversation isn’t remotely helpful. Now I’m going to have to talk about my financial problems whilst sporting a semi.’

Harry let out a honking laugh and sat on the sofa, turning to adjust the cushions behind him so he was more comfortable. Louis sat by his side. 

‘Okay, I’m just going to get straight to it,’ Louis said. ‘So after Christmas I asked both my step-dads if I could talk to them. I told them about my life in London, how I was struggling financially and how I was having to sacrifice so many things because I didn’t have any money. I also told them that life becomes really difficult sometimes because I miss mum so much.’ Harry reached out to squeeze his hands and Louis squeezed them back. 

‘Anyway,’ he continued, ‘My step-dads were really shocked when they realised how badly I had been struggling to make ends meet. They thought I was living this fantastic life because I had this fancy job as an editor at a massive organisation. We talked about all the money I was sending back home and they insisted that I stop doing that. They said I could make a big difference if I supported the family in other ways, like visiting my siblings more often and being more physically present in their lives, which I’d really love. And it is doable now because I’ll be able to pay for the bus tickets. I’ve made an appointment to see a financial advisor and my step-dads also encouraged me to see a doctor. I went to my GP and she was really nice. She referred me to a bereavement counsellor in London and I have my first appointment in a couple of weeks.’ 

Louis paused at this point. ‘So, that’s what we came up with,’ he said to Harry. ‘What do you think?’

‘That sounds like a really good plan, Lou.’ Harry replied. 

‘Yeah,’ Louis agreed, with a sense of relief. ‘It feels like a real weight has been lifted off my shoulders, you know. It’s like I am finally getting a grip and taking control of my life again. And I am so excited to do little things I couldn’t afford to do before; like I am going to start taking the tube into work, I want to treat myself to a take-away every once in a while, and I am going to buy myself a proper winter coat. Stuff like that.’

‘Maybe we can share those take-aways together?’ Harry suggested. ‘There is a really good pizza place nearby that delivers but I hardly ever bother because it’s a bit rubbish eating a family-sized Calzone by myself.’

‘I’d like that a lot,’ smiled Louis. ‘And maybe we can go to the cinema again as well? Only I’ll pay for our tickets this time.’

‘Sounds like you are asking me out on a date there,’ Harry said, biting his lip and looking at Louis.

‘Yeah, I guess I am,’ Louis said, blushing, ‘but let me do it properly. You deserve to be asked out properly.’

He stood up from the sofa and bent down on one knee in front of Harry before taking hold of Harry’s left hand, clasping it between his and clearing his throat. 

‘Harry Edward Styles,’ Louis said in a posh, formal voice, unable to contain a giggle as Harry sat bolt upright on the sofa and looked at him eagerly, ‘Would you do me the very great honour of going on an official, proper date with me to the cinema one night next week.’

Harry’s eyes sparkled and the sides of his mouth were upturned. ‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘Will you buy me some popcorn as well? I don’t go on a date with any old bloke off the street, you know. I do have standards.’ 

‘Glad to hear it.’ Louis replied, ‘but I know how to treat my date like a Queen, so you have no worries there. I promise to buy you as much popcorn as you can eat and if you play your cards right I might even splash out on the VIP seats as well.’

‘Well, how can I say no to that?’ Harry said, squeezing Louis’ hand. ‘It would be my absolute honour to go on a date with you, Lou.’

Louis flung his arms around Harry and pressed a few sloppy kisses across his face. They lay on the sofa and cuddled each other close. ‘You make me so very happy,’ Louis said with a real sincerity as he began to card his fingers through Harry’s hair, twirling a soft curl around his fingers. ‘Thank you for everything, from the bottom of my heart.’

‘You are welcome, Lou,’ Harry said. ‘But I have to thank you too, you know. I don’t think you realise what a massive difference you have made to my life. Moving to London by myself wasn’t easy. I tried my best to build a good social life when I got here. I went out, had fun and made some nice friends, but it all felt quite superficial and I never really felt a deep connection with anyone like I did with my closest friends back home. I was lonely and was getting more and more homesick. But then you came along. And now we have gotten to know each other I feel able to be my true self because you can see the real me. You make me feel so confident and happy and I’d be lost without you.’

‘Looks like we are good for each other, then,’ Louis said, and his eyes crinkled as he gave Harry a warm smile. 

‘I love it so much when you smile at me like that,’ Harry whispered. He leant forward and pressed gentle kisses to the crinkles by Louis’ eyes. Louis began to pepper Harry’s forehead, cheeks and dimples with kisses of his own. They kissed each other’s lips, softly at first but then gradually their kisses began to deepen. Louis parted his lips and their tongues brushed together. 

They stretched out so Harry now lay on top of Louis on the sofa as they continued to kiss. Their chests pressed flush against each other and their legs tangled together. Harry lifted his head away from Louis to catch his breath, gazing at him dotingly and tracing the outline of his cheekbones with his fingertips.

‘This probably sounds really sappy,’ Louis said, ‘but I can feel my heart fluttering when you kiss me.’

‘Sorry about that,’ Harry said apologetically, ‘that’ll be my butterfly. She’s been flapping her wings like crazy because she can feel how happy I am. Your heart must be picking up on her vibrations.’

Louis hitched a breath and looked at Harry in awe. ‘Oh, Harry,’ he whispered, taken aback by what his friend had said.

Harry smiled shyly in response. 

‘You are the most incredible man,’ Louis continued, ‘In fact, I’d say you were perfect if it wasn’t for one thing.’ 

Harry laughed and looked expectantly at Louis. ‘I’m not sure I really want to know, but what is this one thing that is stopping me from being perfect, then?’ 

Louis grinned back at him. ‘I’m glad you asked, Curly. Now, as you know, this is the second time I’ve visited your beautiful home, but you still haven’t given me the grand tour. I have been hoping against hope you might invite me to see your bedroom, but nope. Nada. Not a dicky-bird. I’ve still not made it further than this sofa and quite frankly, it’s disappointing.’

‘Well, we can’t have you feeling disappointed now, can we?’ Harry retorted. ‘And fortunately for you, I am an excellent tour guide, so you are getting the official super-deluxe tour of my flat right now.’ He leapt off the sofa and grabbed Louis’ hand and pulling him up. 

‘Right this way, Mr Tomlinson,’ Harry announced as he set off at a rate of knots down the hallway shouting out ‘spare bedroom and craft space,’ ‘bathroom’ and ‘storage cupboard’ whilst pointing at closed doors until he reached the far room on the right. He opened the door and pulled Louis inside.

‘We’ve arrived at our destination: the master suite,’ Harry announced grandly, waving his arms in a sweeping gesture. ‘Hope you enjoyed the tour.’ 

Louis nodded and looked around the room whilst he caught his breath. His eyes were immediately drawn to a large double bed swathed in crisp white linens and a soft, knitted blanket, which dominated the centre of the room. Behind it, the dusky-pink painted wall was covered with antique frames of various sizes, each filled with a painting or photograph. To Louis’ right, a large Victorian window provided the vista to a stunning view of London. Louis took a moment to watch the sun sink slowly behind the high-rise buildings whilst Harry lit a row of candles that were sitting in a regimented line on top of his chest of drawers. The candlelight flickered and cast ever-moving shadows over the ceiling as a scent of woody vanilla filled the room. 

Harry turned to face Louis with a mischievous glint in his eyes. ‘Whatever shall we do to entertain ourselves in here?’

Louis took a step towards Harry. ‘I think it would be nice,’ he said, pressing a hand on Harry’s chest, ‘if you introduced me properly to your fluttery butterfly.’ 

Harry squeaked and grasped at the hem of oversize shirt, pulling it over his body and dropping it on the floor without thought. Louis gazed in appreciation at Harry’s naked torso as his fingers skimmed lightly over the milky skin of Harry’s muscular arms and broad shoulders. He leant in close and traced a finger slowly around the outline of the wings of Harry’s butterfly. ‘She’s truly beautiful, love,’ he whispered, staring in wonderment at how intricately detailed the ink was. ‘What does she symbolise?’

‘Transformation,’ Harry replied, softly, shivering at Louis’ touch. ‘I got her not long after I came out. She reminds me never to conceal my identity and to always be proud of who I really am.’

Louis leant down to suck love bites along the length of the insect’s body, whispering ‘beautiful,’ as he did so. He lifted his head up from the butterfly to look back into Harry’s eyes for a moment and smiling before dropping to his knees in front of him. Harry moaned as Louis licked and nipped at the laurel leaves tattooed across his hips and lower stomach.

‘I don’t want any of your other tattoos to feel neglected,’ Louis said with a real sincerity as he sat back on his heels, ‘so will you promise to spend some time this next week introducing me to them all.’ 

Harry nodded in agreement. ‘Good,’ Louis responded, satisfied. He glanced down and noticed some red thread hand-embroidered onto the hem of one of Harry’s loose-fitting cream trouser legs. ‘Loved?’ he questioned, lifting the hem slightly and rubbing his thumb over the delicate stitching. Harry smiled in response. ‘You noticed. Sometimes I like to personalise my clothing with words or pins that reflect how I am feeling. It makes my clothes a bit more unique and special.’

‘Just like you, then,’ Louis replied. He wondered what had inspired Harry to stitch that word? Louis dared to hope for a second that the stitching related to how he made Harry feel. He let go of the hem, unbuttoned Harry’s trousers and pulled the zip down slowly, brushing his knuckles over Harry’s fattening cock as he did so to tease him. ‘As gorgeous as you look in these trousers,’ Louis continued, ‘I’d prefer to see you out of them.’ With that, he let go of the fabric he was holding and the trousers pooled onto the floor. Harry stood in his boxer briefs and pink fluffy socks and trembled at Louis’ unflinching gaze.

Louis ran his fingers gently up the backs of Harry’s thighs before letting them skim over his hips and across his muscled torso. ‘You are so toned, love,’ he said in appreciation as his hands continued to explore the contours of Harry’s body. He placed soft kisses to Harry’s lower tummy. ‘Your body feels so firm.’

‘I have a personal session each week with a boxing coach,’ Harry replied, his voice sounding strangled as Louis’ hands followed the curve of his lower back as he planted a trail of kisses along Harry’s inner thighs. ‘And I go to yoga and spin classes.’ 

‘Well your boxing coach deserves a pay rise… and my eternal gratitude,’ Louis muttered as he hooked his thumbs under the elastic of Harry’s boxer briefs and tugged gently at the fabric. ‘Can I take these off please, love? I’d like to see you properly.’ 

Harry nodded and Louis immediately pulled his briefs down before leaning back to admire him. Harry’s cheeks flushed as Louis’ eyes roamed hungrily over his body. Harry’s cock was large with a natural curve and it was already dripping with pre-come. Louis felt humbled by the way Harry was so turned on just from his touch. He placed his fingers around Harry’s base, whilst suckling the tip and lapping up the pre-come. Harry grasped onto the chest of drawers for support as Louis placed sweet kisses along his length and licked a stripe along the underside before closing his mouth around Harry’s cock once more. Louis looked up at Harry as innocently as he could, knowing that he looked obscene. A fractured whine escaped from Harry’s mouth as he stared into Louis’ eyes. Louis had been planning to take his time and tease Harry, but in that moment he couldn’t hold back. He was rock hard and his own cock throbbed as it pressed painfully onto the zip of his jeans. 

Louis took Harry as far as he could in his mouth, sucking in his cheeks and moving his head up and down, up and down, until Harry’s cock caught at the back of his throat. He continued to lick, kiss and suck whilst using his free hand to gently play with Harry’s balls. Harry’s legs soon began to shake and he entwined his fingers in Louis’ hair, pushing him away. ‘Stop. Lou, please stop,’ he pleaded. 

Louis lifted his head up in surprise, worried that he might have hurt Harry in some way. A strand of saliva hung indecently between his lips and Harry’s cock. ‘I am going to come,’ Harry explained, breathlessly. ‘I can feel it building.’ 

His face was flushed, his eyes glassy and his body was covered in a sheen of sweat. Louis felt so turned on just by looking at him. ‘But I want you to come,’ he said in confusion. ‘Let me take care of you.’

‘No, Lou, I don’t want to come just yet.’ Harry shook his head emphatically as he spoke. ‘I want you inside me. I want us to come together. Please Lou. Let’s get on the bed.’ 

‘Yeah, Harry, yeah.’ Louis agreed, urgently. ‘I want to make you feel good.’

Harry nodded. ‘I want you to fuck me. I need it.’

Louis grabbed hold of Harry’s hands to steady himself as he scrambled up off his knees. ‘Why are you still wearing all your clothes?’ Harry exclaimed as Louis stood up. ‘God, Lou, take everything off right this minute. I want to see you.’

Louis rushed to comply, pulling frantically at his jumper and almost tripping over his own feet in a disastrous attempt to discard both his jeans, his boxer briefs and his socks in one go. He glanced over at Harry who by now was perched on the edge of the bed, watching him in amusement. ‘Stop looking at me,’ he groaned as he stooped forward, hopping on one leg whilst tugging desperately at the skinny jeans that were still wedged around his ankles, ‘This is not how I wanted to look the first time you saw me naked. You are going to lose your boner if you watch me for much longer.’

Harry honked out a massive laugh and Louis looked over at him ruefully. 

‘Got to admit, Lou, it's quite a unique seduction technique you’ve got going on there,’ he said, before cheering as Louis finally broke free from his jeans. 

Louis curtsied to acknowledge Harry’s applause before throwing his rumpled jeans carelessly onto the floor. Doing his best to conceal feelings of self-doubt at being completely nude in front of the man he adored, Louis exuded his usual confident façade. He jutted out a hip and ran one hand through his hair, fluttering his eyelashes at Harry who snorted at his flirtations. ‘How about this for seduction, big boy?’ he purred, stalking up to Harry and standing in between his legs. He caressed Harry’s cheek with his fingers before tilting Harry’s chin upwards and placing a gentle kiss to his lips.

‘That works, sweet cheeks,’ Harry replied, placing his hands gently around Louis’ slender waist before feeling along the deep curve of his spine and over the soft swell of his bum. ‘You are so unbelievably sexy,’ he hummed happily. ‘Your arse is insane. Knew it would be. Been wanting to get my hands on it since the first moment I saw you.’

‘Yeah?’ Louis responded with some vulnerability as he wrapped his arms loosely around Harry’s shoulders. ‘You like how I look?’

Harry rolled his eyes, ‘As if you didn’t know you have an incredible arse, Louis Tomlinson.’

Louis giggled at Harry’s comment, then closed his eyes as Harry continued to explore his body with his hands. Harry’s touch was so tender and so gentle, yet each caress burnt into Louis’ skin. It had been such a long time since he had let himself be exposed in this way in front of someone else and he felt a little overwhelmed.

‘You are so gorgeous, Lou,’ Harry whispered softly as he pressed a line of kisses down the centre of Louis’ chest, ‘I can’t believe how lucky I am to hold you in my arms right now.’

Louis squeezed his arms around Harry as he said this, hissing as their hard cocks rubbed against each other. A jolt of electricity ran through his body and refocused his mind. ‘Get on your hands and knees on the bed for me, love.’ he insisted, reluctantly breaking away from their embrace. 

Harry moved to scramble onto the bed, before reaching to pull off his pink fluffy socks. ‘I can’t believe you gave me a blow job whilst I was wearing these,’ he tutted as he flung the socks across the room.

Louis gave Harry a sheepish look and shrugged. ‘I wasn’t complaining. You look gorgeous in everything, Curly; even pink fluffy socks. Now, where do you keep your lube and condoms?’ 

Harry gestured to his bedside cabinet and Louis opened the top drawer to grab supplies. 

‘Holy shit,’ he exclaimed as he turned back to see Harry arching his back obscenely on the bed, his arse high in the air with his fingers wrapped around his cock. ‘You are so fucking hot. I swear to God I have never felt so turned on.’

Harry moaned in pleasure on hearing Louis’ praise.

‘Don’t touch yourself though, love.’ Louis commanded, standing close to Harry. ‘Will you let me give you what you need?’

Harry nodded.

‘Then place both your hands on the bed and spread your fingers, please,’ Louis instructed.

Harry mewled but did as he was told, moving his hand away from his cock and spreading all his fingers out on the bed, tilting his head towards Louis as if waiting for further instructions.

‘You are being so good for me. Thank you so much.’ Louis said as he dragged his knuckles slowly down Harry’s spine, causing Harry to shiver and gasp at the sensation.

‘Are you ready, love?’ Louis asked, feeling slightly daunted at the realisation of what was about to happen. Harry wiggled his bum in response, drawing a startled laugh from Louis. 

‘Been ready for a long time, Lou,’ Harry said. His voice cracked as he spoke, but he gave Louis a mischievous glance over his shoulder.

‘Best not keep you waiting any longer, then,’ Louis responded, returning the smile before pouring liberal amounts of lube over his fingers and circling his index finger around Harry’s rim. Harry yelped. ‘It’s a bit cold,’ he mumbled.

‘Sorry, Harry,’ Louis replied, apologetically, rubbing his fingers together before returning to circle around Harry’s rim once more. ‘Does it feel a bit warmer now?’ he asked with some concern. When Harry nodded, Louis slid his index finger slowly past his rim and crooked it until he hit the spot he was searching for. Harry began to squirm. 

‘Oh God, Lou, keep doing that. Don’t stop,’ Harry begged. 

Louis continued whilst Harry writhed underneath him before adding a second finger and making scissoring motions to open Harry up. He then added a third, which made Harry whimper and twitch at the intrusion. Louis kissed the dimples to Harry’s lower back and rubbed his thumb over Harry’s hip to soothe him. When Harry seemed more settled, Louis thrust his fingers in and out repeatedly until he was satisfied that Harry was stretched and ready to take him. He reached over and tugged gently at Harry’s hair to get his attention. ‘You ready for this, love?’ 

‘Yes, Lou, want you so much,’ Harry pleaded. His eyes were glassy and his limbs were loose and pliant. 

‘What position do you want to be in?’ Louis asked. ‘I know we haven’t talked about what we like or don’t like yet, but I want this to be special for you.’ 

‘Can we face each other?’ Harry asked as he turned over unsteadily. ‘I want to see you when you come.’ 

Louis nodded. ‘I’d like that too. Come on then, lift up for me.’ He took hold of one of the many pillows that were propped up on the bed and slid it under Harry’s hips. Harry seemed so relaxed and floaty and Louis was consumed with fondness. He leant forward to place some tender kisses to Harry’s lips. 

‘My Harry,’ he said, poking a dimple as Harry beamed. 

‘My Lou,’ Harry replied, letting his fingers run along Louis’ jawline. 

They smiled at each other. 

Louis rolled on a condom and coated it in lube before positioning himself in between Harry’s splayed thighs. He rubbed his cock over Harry’s hole for a few seconds before carefully pushing against his rim. Both gasped at the tightness of the stretch, but Louis continued guiding his cock forward, inch by inch, until he bottomed out. A furrowed crease was visible between Harry’s eyebrows and he took several deep breaths as he adjusted to the sensation.

‘I feel so full,’ he murmured, ‘but you can move now.’ Louis looked at Harry to make sure he was okay. ‘Move, Lou,’ Harry repeated, this time more urgently. 

Louis drew his cock out and pushed back in with force, revelling at the tight drag. Harry tilted his hips beneath him whilst Louis mouthed desperately at Harry’s neck. Louis continued to pound into Harry, hooking one of Harry’s legs over his shoulder as he fucked him. His biceps throbbed as he held himself up and he could hear the blood pounding in his ears. His body was on fire.

‘Lou, Lou, Lou, Lou, Lou,’ Harry chanted in between every thrust, lost in his own world. He stretched his arms back and wrapped his hands around the metal bars of his headboard as Louis thrust into him again and again.

Louis felt the flush of his orgasm building from within, ‘Harry, love,’ he panted, ‘I am so sorry. I am not going to last.’ 

Harry moaned indecently as Louis began to stroke his cock as he fucked him.

‘Just, it’s been a while and, well, it’s you. I’m with you.’ Louis continued to ramble, gasping between the words as his thrusts became more erratic.

‘Gonna come, too,’ Harry cried between gritted teeth, before shouting out as his body shook and thick white ribbons coated his heaving chest. The sensation of Harry clenching around his cock during his orgasm was too much for Louis. Waves of electricity surged through his body and he spilled warm pulses into the condom and fucked Harry through their aftershocks. 

Feeling boneless and sated, Louis’ mind floated up to the sky above. He slumped on top of Harry, who clung tightly to him, sighing in contentment.

Once he recovered, Louis pushed himself up apologetically and pulled out of Harry, who hissed at the loss of contact. ‘Hope I didn’t squash you just then,’ he said with a sense of guilt. 

‘Nah, it felt nice,’ Harry replied. ‘I didn’t want to let go.’

Louis got up and pulled off the condom as he crossed over to the bathroom, bringing back a damp cloth which he used to clean himself and Harry, throwing it in a wicker laundry basket before crawling back into bed and snuggling close to Harry. ‘Can we have a cuddle?’ he asked, his voice thick with exhaustion.

‘Mmm, always,’ Harry said, melting into his side. They wrapped themselves around each other and drifted off to sleep.

~~~ 

Louis woke up a couple of hours later to find Harry lying beside him, tracing patterns into his chest with finger. He smiled at Harry happily and glanced over at the alarm clock on the bedside cabinet, exclaiming when he saw the time. 

‘Blimey, love,’ he said, pressing a quick kiss to Harry’s shoulder, sitting up in bed and leaning over to turn on his bedside light, ‘I’d better make a move if I want to get home before midnight.’ 

‘Hey, I have a suggestion,’ Harry replied casually. ‘How about you stay here?’

‘Would that be okay?’ Louis asked, glancing down at Harry to make sure he wasn’t offering out of politeness, ‘only it would be really nice to stay with you tonight and I don’t really fancy making the journey home at this time. Bet the weather is freezing.’ 

‘Of course it’s okay, but I didn’t just mean tonight,’ Harry replied with a trace of hesitation in his voice. He tugged at Louis’ arm, encouraging him to lay back down in bed. Louis shuffled close to Harry, intertwining their legs. 

‘How about you don’t go home tomorrow, either. We could spend the day together… and the night together as well.’ Harry paused as he tried to gauge Louis’ reaction. ‘And then maybe you could stay here the day after tomorrow. And the day after that. From the sounds of things, your flat isn’t the nicest place to be and my flat feels so much more like a home when you are in it too. So why don’t we hang out here together and see how things go?’ 

‘I’d like that a lot,’ Louis said. He brushed away a loose curl and smiled so warmly at Harry that his eyes crinkled. ‘Just a couple of friends, actual proper friends, hanging out together. It sounds nice, doesn’t it.’ 

‘It does, Lou,’ Harry replied, beaming back at Louis. ‘And I’m so glad that after all this time you are my actual proper friend. Maybe even my best friend?’ He looked hopefully towards Louis. 

‘Maybe even your boyfriend?’ Louis whispered in response, biting his lip nervously. 

‘Hmm,’ Harry breathed out, rolling on his back and taking a moment to ponder Louis’ suggestion. ‘Do I want Louis Tomlinson to be my boyfriend?’ He sighed. ‘I don’t know, it’s a difficult decision.’

Louis tutted in exasperation and pinched at Harry’s side. ‘Honestly,’ he sighed as Harry squawked, honking out a massive laugh. ‘It can’t be that hard a decision. You’ve just invited me to live with you and a few hours ago you agreed to go on a date with me.’ 

‘Oh yeah, so I did.’ Harry admitted between giggles. ‘Alright, Louis, alright. I’ll admit it, I really want to be your boyfriend.’

Louis felt his heart pound and he wrapped a still giggly Harry up in a bear hug, covering his face with kisses. They cuddled together, kissing and beaming in happiness.

~~~ 

‘So, now that I am your boyfriend, will you make me lots of those lovely Christmas cookies?’ Louis asked hopefully after they had settled down and were lying contentedly in each other’s arms.

‘How about, as your boyfriend, I teach YOU how to make the cookies, then you can bake them for me.’ Harry replied, rolling his eyes fondly. 

‘Oh God, what have I done?’ Louis exclaimed in horror. ‘My boyfriend is going to make me cook. Forget it. I’ve changed my mind.’ He moved as if to get out of bed and Harry squawked, flinging his arms around Louis’ torso and pulling him close. 

‘You aren’t going anywhere, Tomlinson,’ he huffed as Louis chuckled and leant back into Harry’s chest. ‘Besides, I can think of plenty more things we can do for each other besides cooking.’ He looked at Louis and raised his eyebrows suggestively. 

‘Maybe being your boyfriend won’t be too bad after all,’ Louis sighed dramatically. ‘Go on then, Styles, I’ll stay.’

‘How kind of you,’ Harry retorted. ‘Now if you behave yourself I might make you a batch of cookies tomorrow.’

‘See, you are the best boyfriend in the world already,’ Louis declared, kissing Harry’s nose.

‘More like you’ve got me wrapped around your little finger already,’ Harry replied, smiling.

Louis smiled back. ‘Hey, Harry,’ he said after a moment’s pause. ‘Now we are doing this hanging out together thing, can we sit down soon and figure out finances and stuff. I want to pay my way.’

‘Of course, Lou, of course,’ Harry agreed.

‘Thanks Harry,’ Louis whispered. ‘For everything.’

‘Thanks to you too, Lou. You make me so very, very happy, you know.’

Louis was suddenly overcome and he wiped away a few small tears from his eyes.

‘Hey, don’t cry,’ Harry said, brushing away more tears from Louis’ cheek. ‘You are home now. You are safe and you are with me and I am so pleased you are here. Welcome home, Lou.’

‘I am so pleased I am here too,’ Louis replied taking a deep breath and smiling at Harry, ‘and these are definitely happy tears. Very happy tears. Now can my boyfriend give me a cuddle, please.’

~~~ 

Over the last few years Louis had learnt that life didn’t stop. Even when his heart had broken and each day felt unbearable, he had forced himself to keep moving forward. But as he watched the winter sun rise slowly over the city and fill Harry’s bedroom with rays of light, Louis knew that for the first time in a long time he wanted to wake up each morning and make the most of each new day. He wanted to live his life to the full. 

Harry brought joy to his life and Louis’ heart filled with love as he lay in bed with his arms wrapped around his sleeping boyfriend. 

His partner. His best friend. His person. 

Louis felt he was stepping into a future filled with happiness. 

And he knew his mum would be ever so proud.

**Author's Note:**

> Sending massive thanks to Lauren for moderating this fic fest and also to the two kind people who submitted the prompts that inspired my fic. 
> 
> Title from Head over Heels by Tears for Fears.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading. x


End file.
